


Let Her Go

by VioletVolpe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, BAMF Hermione Granger, But they're all working hard to heal, Developing Friendships, Disabled Character, Found Family, Harry Potter Bashing, Healing, Hermione Granger Bashing, Mending Relationships, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Past Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Therapy, Things get bad before they get better, Unplanned Pregnancy, incorrect slang use, low key suicidal Hermione Granger, nobody's perfect, past child soldiers, unhealthy to healthy relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 46,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletVolpe/pseuds/VioletVolpe
Summary: After a one night stand with Harry after Ron abandoned them, Hermione ends up pregnant. Fast forward in time its been 6 years and Hermione is back in British soil. Fractured and maybe a little broken can she find the meaning of family and maybe, finally, come home?
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood
Comments: 27
Kudos: 116





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello people of Ao3. If you've seen this story on FF.net don't panic. I'm just revamping some of my stories and adding them to this site.
> 
> Also cannon-implied violence ahead. (These kids went to war okay? No one comes back from war unscathed.)

**Hogwarts - 1998**

I look at Harry and Ron relaxing and enjoying our hard-won peace. I steel my nerves and walk towards them. "Harry there's something I need to talk to you about."

He nodded at Ron and stood up. "I wanted to talk to you about something too."

I signal for him to follow me and choose an abandoned classroom. Only after placing all the privacy charms that I know could I force myself to face him.

"Harry I—" I stopped. Took a breath. Grounded myself. "—about that night-" Even after all that's happened, I still couldn't say the words out loud. Didn't want to but I would. By Merlin, I would. I open my mouth to try again. But he interrupts me before I could even start.

"Hermione I just want to forget that anything ever happened." He stared right past me. He couldn't even face me. "It was a mistake. One that will not happen again."

I sat down frozen in my seat. Harry, my best friend Harry, was renouncing that beautiful thing that happened between us. Mistake or not I couldn't believe he would dismiss the matter like that. I didn't have that option.

"Look, Hermione, it's not about you okay? It's just – for once in my life I'm free! Free to do whatever I please and act like the teenager I never got to be. Free to enjoy my life however I want to. I want to move forward and to do that I need to cut ties with all that's happened this past year. Or it'll poison me forever.

"We'll still be friends, don't get me wrong, and maybe one day we could rekindle what we had that night. But first I want to enjoy the freedom that I just earned. Don't you get it? For once in my life, I can finally be Just Harry."

There was so much excitement in his eyes at the prospects of being just a plain Joe. I nodded mutely and watched as he kneeled in front of me.

"You understand, right?"

I held his gaze trying desperately to find anything that would tell me that what happened that night meant something to him. That he didn't mean the words he said.

I found nothing.

"Yes. I…understand." Keep the tears in Hermione. "You want nothing to do with the past so that it won't hold you back."

"Exactly! I knew you'd understand."

I stare unfeeling into his eyes. "You don't want me to hold you back."

Harry backtracks. "No, no, no, Hermione. Nothing could ever stop me from being your friend. You're the best friend any bloke could ask for. But you have to admit, it was a mistake. We were both emotional and with the locket and the war weighing on us..."

I stood from the chair before I did something I would regret. I give him a watery smile. I understood but it didn't make his words any easier. "It's fine. I understand. I really do. You don't want anything to do with that night then that's fine, we were young and stupid and death could knock on our door at any second. Don't worry Harry. I won't say anything else on the matter."

"Thank you, Hermione." He moves to kiss me, but I move my face away. Tears prickled behind my eyes but I managed to hold them back until I heard the door close.

‘Don’t be selfish Hermione.’ I tell my heart. ‘Don’t spoil his happiness.’

The tears fall anyways.

Later I stood I'm in front of the two other people in the world I could call friends. "I'm pregnant."

Neville lost his smile and Luna her serene expression. "Ron's?"

I shook my head. "Harry's."

There was shock and disbelief in their faces but there was also excitement. A baby after times of so much death was a symbol of hope for us. But I knew why their faces were incredulous. Everyone expected a relationship between Ron and me. Not Harry and me. Never Harry and me.

Luna was the first to break the silence. "Does he know?"

I shook my head trying to dry the wetness that wanted to creep out. "He wants to forget that night ever happened. Didn't even let me speak. But I understand. I _do._ "

Neville shot up from the bed. "So, he decided everything by himself? That bastard! When I get to him-!"

Grabbing a quick hold of his arm I pull him back down to the bed. The events of Fifth Year drew us all together and this anger on my behalf is a result of it. "You will do no such thing! I won’t hold him back.”

Neville tried to loosen my hold on him but I wouldn't budge. "Hermione, you cannot expect me to just sit here."

"You can and you will Neville Longbottom or I will hex you into staying. Besides, it doesn't matter. I'm leaving for Australia to find my parents."

Our stare off went by ignored by our blonde friend. "When are you leaving?"

I look at Luna. Her eyes screamed understanding but there was also sadness and a whole other plethora of emotions. "After the funerals. I need to pay my respects before leaving and arrange to take my NEWTs overseas plus making restitution to Gringotts."

Finally giving up on saving my 'honor' Neville settled down. "We'll come with you."

"I'm leaving now then."

Luna stood up. "Let's go."

Luna's p.o.v

Neville and I sat eating ice cream in the newly re-opened Fortescue's two weeks after Hermione's departure. It was only recently that people caught onto her disappearance and started asking questions.

The Daily Prophet was dropped on our table. Out of habit, I pointed my wand at the culprit a curse ready to leave my lips. "Did you know that she left?"

It took a few seconds for my heart to start calming down. I lower my wand and glared at Harry, but even still it was pumping too fast. "Do not _ever_ sneak up on me again Harry Potter.”

Neville was near ready to pummel the Boy-Who-Lived into the ground but I stop him from jumping out of his seat with a well-placed stomp on his foot. I also used it to ground myself to reality more. I- _We_ were _not_ back under the Carrows. There was nothing to fear. “Hello there Harry. Sorry for holding you at wand point, it’s a habit from having people try to kill me. I'm fine though, thank you for asking. No, don't worry about it, you're not interrupting anything important. How can we help you?" Neville gritted out.

Harry Potter did not look amused. In fact, there seemed to be anxiousness hanging all over him. "Sorry Neville. It's just…she left and didn't say a word. We had to find out through the Daily Prophet of all things. Aren't we best friends?"

Breathe Luna. You need to breathe. I kicked Neville in the shins before he could snip out a hurtful remark. Yes, Harry deserved the riot act but not from us. "Hermione left a letter in the box that we left in your bed. Did you even open it, Harry?"

"I-I might not have been paying much attention." Harry at least had the decency to look abashed.

Neville snorted behind his sundae. "Try none at all." I glared at him. "You barely said a word to her when she was here. Too busy partying Man-Who-Won?"

Now Harry was building up steam. "What's that supposed to mean? She wasn't making any efforts either."

That comment pissed Neville off even more. Just like Ronald, Harry was learning to blow away his failures to someone else. "Last time she tried you blew her off remember?"

"I-I…"

Harry’s anxiety levels seemed to skyrocket and he wrung his hands nervously. I tried to care but my own fight-or-flight instinct was still high. Harry was a big boy -a man now even- he could take care of himself. "Forget it, Harry. If you want to talk to her just send her an owl. She's not trying to disappear you know."

* * *

**3 Years Later – Australia**

**Courier-Owl Post**

**A Better SkeleGrow!**

**By: Adam Smith**

Hermione Granger, war hero, holder of a Merlin First Class award and recent Potion and Charm Mistress, has done the unimaginable and created a SkeleGrow potion that works faster and is capable of being used in conjunction with a pain-relieving potion, which is frankly a relief since the pain of re-growing bones increased.

At twenty-one years of age, Mistress Granger is currently the youngest Potions Mistress out there, her record of completing her Mastery in two years and six months beaten only by Severus Snape, late Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry and ex-Potions Master to the young lady. While not the first potion she has enhanced (read: made _so_ much better), the SkeleGrow potion is her most notorious one as it is used almost religiously by Quidditch players everywhere.

"I got into the business of remaking potions and enhancing them after reading a potions book annotated all over by my former Potions Master, Master Snape. A friend of mine was using the book, and while at the time I considered it a cursed book…Okay so maybe I was a smidge jealous, _but!,_ after learning who its previous owner was, I gained a better appreciation of it and was inspired to make potions better. After all, I am Hogwarts renowned know-it-all, it'd be a pity if I couldn't continue Master Snape's footsteps. I might be considered the Brightest Witch of my Age, but he was most certainly the World's Best Potioner."

For a list of potions that Mistress Granger has enhanced turn to page 6.

* * *

**4 Years Later – South America**

**O Globo Mágico (Translated from Portuguese)**

**Hermione Granger Strikes Again!**

**Written by: Favio Silva**

The former member of the Golden Trio, the main players in the defeat of the British Dark Lord Voldemort, Hermione Granger, has amazed the wizarding world yet again with a new and improved Wolfsbane. Based on the old one, Wolfsbane 2.0, as people are calling it, allows the drinker to not only retain their wits during their transformation but also to stay in their human body. What's the importance of this my dear readers might ask? It is a known fact that lycanthropy is spread through the bite or injury performed by a transformed werewolf. If werewolves cannot transform then the rate of infection dramatically decreases. Hypothetically speaking, Wolfsbane 2.0 could _end_ lycanthropy. With no side effects of the discontinuation of the option, Mistress Granger herself recommends coming off the potion every other month to not place the body under too much strain.

With the Amazon rainforest occupying much of the South American backyard, it's a relief to know that we might be facing one less threat now. With Lycanthropy turning into a thing of the past, we can see a brighter future now within these great trees in the forest and most importantly within Brazil.

For more info on the improved Wolfsbane turn to page 3.

For the Amazonian Rain Forest, page 5.

For Mistress Granger's time in South America, page 6-8.

* * *

**4 Years, 6 Months – North America**

**Magical Post/ Magia Universal (Translated from Spanish)**

**The Best of Two Worlds**

**A collaboration between Melany Guitierrez & Johnathan Smith**

Hermione Granger has done it again. This time with her second Mastery, Charms. Her newest creation is guaranteed to change the Potion classroom and world as we know it _and_ open a whole new branch of magic for Charms. Her newest move? A spell that all but does the potion process for you. Simply have the ingredients at the ready and handy, set the instructions, and voila! You have a potion that makes itself.

"It is important that students learn how to make the potions without any silly 'wand-waving' as my late, Hogwarts potions Masters used to say but it's equally important for Potions Masters and Mistresses out there to have the ability to work on more than one potion at a time. It cuts down time and frees up time to develop new ideas." Says Charm Mistress Hermione Granger who also states that the spell is still in experimental stages and would not be capable of performing the more complex potions. Projections have placed the finalized version in the market by year's end. Best of luck, Mistress Granger.

* * *

**5 Years Later - Taiwan**

**Excerpt taken from the Watanabe School Newspaper (translated from Japanese)**

**NO MORE LYCANTROPHY!**

**Majime Akiyama**

In a move that sent ripples and shock across the entirety of the Wizarding World far and wide, Hermione Granger has created the cure to Lycanthropy. The curse that has been ailing thousands of witches and wizards around the globe has finally been eradicated by non-magical born Hermione Granger. Known for her many accomplishments and additions to the magical community, Miss Granger has them all topped with this discovery.

With a mixture of both the magical and the non-magical worlds, this millennium-old puzzle has been solved. A project on which she has worked for many years and has traveled the globe in search of answers, Mistress Granger says that many of her creations were but stepping stones building up to this point. She admits that many of her accomplishments were her way of tackling the problem and solving it piece by piece.

Since the introduction of Wolfsbane 2.0, officially named Banewolf, life for werewolves has changed dramatically. Instead of being shunned by society, they have once again been reintegrated into it, some even for the first time in their lives. Children are in school, adults are back at work and contributing to the societies that they live in. Here in Asia where the ministries have treated Lycanthropy as a sickness instead of a curse, werewolves worked mainly civilian jobs. Since the new Wolfsbane 'stabilizes' the sickness, Auror departments all around could not open their doors fast enough. With greater strength, speed, and sense of smell, the Auror Weres make some of the best on the force. Crime rates everywhere have never fallen so far so quickly. It's gotten to the point where some Werewolves want to stay Weres. In full support of their decisions, Asian ministries are backing up those that wish to remain as werewolves and will be providing Banewolf for its workers, at no extra cost to them.

To be continued next page…

To know more about werewolves in today's society go to page 5 or contact your local ministry.

* * *

**5 Years, 8 Months Later – Egypt**

**Arabian Tales**

**Bringing A Continent Closer Together (Translated from Arabic)**

**Aliyah Nejem**

Africa. A continent that is as diverse as it is big. Filled with different cultures, languages, and dialects it's not surprising that there is much to be desired in communications. But never fear Charm Mistress Granger is here!

Thanks to her new creation, the translation charm (no abbreviation needed), people from entirely different backgrounds can now communicate as if they were raised under the same roof. This new Charm charms the user into understanding most spoken languages in the world regardless of any previous knowledge the user may have.

"Mistress Granger is a very ingenious woman. She has done what it would have taken years for people thrice her age to do in months. She cured lycanthropy, has bettered millennia of potions, and pioneered new combinations of masteries. As we speak, Mistress Granger has plans of developing the charm to allow users to be able to speak and read the language instead of having spoken words translated into their native language." Those are the exact words that Keelan Azikiwe, renowned Zimbabwe Magizoologist and host to Miss Granger, said. Why the strange combination of masteries you might ask? Well, Miss Granger is also renowned for her thirst for knowledge and Magizoologist is about the furthest from her own Masteries while still retaining something in common. When asked about the nature of his relationship with Miss Granger Mr. Azikiwe went silent. Is that love in the air that this reporter detects?

* * *

**6 Years Later - Germany**

**Wizarding Newspaper (Translated from German)**

**Portable Floo. The Invention of Tomorrow.**

**Boyce Scheider**

Imagine being able to stop asking to use someone's fireplace to go places. Imagine being able to connect to the Floo Network regardless of where you are, being able to travel simply by placing a disk down, and stepping into it while saying the destination. Well then imagine no more. In a collaborative work across the magical fields of Runes, Arithmancy, and Charms, the portable Floo is now a thing of the present. Main contributors of the project thank Charm Mistress Granger for the help. While not officially part of the team behind the invention, Mistress Granger served as a mentor and source of information to the quintet of talented youth she took under her wing.

The portable Floo connects to the main Floo network of the country and can also act as a way to make Floo calls both on a national and international level I you’re willing to pay for the service. I have a feeling this new creation will be on many people’s Christmas lists. It’s already on mine.

Doing what none have done before and teaching our youth is there anything Hermione Granger can't do? I certainly hope not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Newspapers are based on real newspapers or are unimaginative titles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 12, 2004

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics: Different language.

My lips stretch into a smile as I take the familiar sights in. Everything was the same but different. People weren't scared to walk on the streets anymore and music and laughter permeated the Alley again. It felt good to be home and to see it in better conditions than I had left it in.

“ _Mama! Wake up, mama! Wake up! You can't daydream now. I want to see Diagonal Alley_.” The little girl next to me stares up with a pleading look from brown and green eyes. She was pouting so adorably I just had to pinch her cheeks.

“But we are Diagonal Alley already.” I joke.

“ _Mama _!”

With the same mannerisms and attitude, she reminded me of my younger years with stomping feet and bushy hair. “ _Oh alright. Come on then oh excited one. Let's see what's changed in these few years that I've been away_.” I reply in French. I grip my her hand tighter and pull her in closer. I'd been away from Great Britain for more than half a decade. I had no intention of letting anything happen to my daughter.

I took great pleasure in showing her all the new sights and the old. She answered rapidly, weaving various languages together, and had most people looking at us strangely. Not so much the fact that they couldn't understand us, yes, I answered back in different tongues, but because we spoke so many, so fluently.

I shrug off their stares as did my little ray of sunshine. Stares were nothing new to us Granger girls. We got them everywhere we went. That was the price of international fame. Animosity was a word that had disappeared from our dictionaries.

“ _How would you like some Sunshine ice cream_?” I knew I immediately said it wrong when she starts giggling at me.

“ _Silly Mama! You can't eat sunshine_.” She ‘chastised’ me.

I pat her head. “Guess I'll just leave the language mixing to you then.” The downside of raising a child all over the world. They tend to know more about the language(s) than you did. And could combine them like it was nobody’s business.

We slowly walk to Fortescue’s, I was enjoying being back home too much. Some shops had closed down and been replaced while others simply flourished. Madame Malkin’s had expanded and Ollivander’s lost its ancient look for a more “modern” (or a definition of modern) one. The Alley itself seemed to have expanded to accommodate news stores and designated floo areas had also become an addition (with no small amount of satisfaction in myself of course).

“Evangeline,” I called.

She stopped trying to take everything in at once to gaze up at me. “ _Yes, mama_?” If it weren't for her lone green eye you would think she was a carbon copy of me. Same brown uncontrollable hair, the same shade of brown eye and personality. Her father’s traits were hidden at first sight, but they were there. That lone green eye betrayed her full parentage.

“We're in the U.K now so you have to speak English now. When in Rome…”

“Act like the Romans. I know mama. I just get excited and things come out differently.”

I pull her into a hug. “I know you don't mean it but you need to try okay?”

She wrapped her little arms around me. “Yes, mama.”

“Let's get you that ice cream then,” I say.

We continued our way to the ice cream store. I chatter mindlessly and Evangeline absorbed every kernel of information I gave her. I talked about Hogwarts and my exploits and adventures. I talked about the teachers and the people and I talked about her father. Not the first time I'd done so but not as often as I could have.

I had yet to tell her who her father was but after seeing the pictures I knew that she knew. She never asked and I never told and we've left it at that. The moment she wants to learn about her father as her father she’ll ask, and I’ll answer.

Just like I've talked to her about all my friends and acquaintances from Hogwarts and beyond, I never lied to her. If there was something, I didn't think she should know I merely told her no. Someday she would be mature enough to hear all the realities that I've lived through but not yet for a very long time.

“So, then Ginny caught the snitch. Her brothers were so surprised. They didn't think that their little sister could fly like that!”

“Ginny sounds so cool!”

“She is. She's a player for the Holyhead Harpies, Great Britain’s only all-female Quidditch team. I’ll introduce you to her one of these days. You’ll love her.” We were almost at the ice cream parlor now. I needed to take Evangeline down a notch or she'd be a ball of energy later. I stare ahead. Then again maybe she doesn’t have to.

“Sunshine,” I whisper.

“Yes, mama?”

I point out a gentleman in black trousers and a button-down. “If you want any ice cream you have to ask him okay?”

She looks at me weirdly but nods. “Ok.”

She makes her way closer to the and laughs when she notices who I've sent her to. “I want a triple vanilla caramel sundae with lots and lots of sprinkles!” I hear her excited voice say.

“Sorry sweetie but you'll have to ask your mum about that.” Responded the blonde woman next to the man.

“Mama told me to ask you!”

Finally, the man started to turn. “And who's your mama young lady- Evangeline!”

Evangeline threw her hands in the air. “Surprise Uncle Neville, Aunty Luna!” Neville tucks her into his arms and hugs her close to his chest.

“Merlin you've grown so much, Angel!” Exclaimed Luna.

“How's my favorite goddaughter?”

“Silly uncle Nev. I'm your _only_ goddaughter!”

“Exactly! That makes you my favorite!”

It had been months since the last time we saw each other and so I couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions. “Hermione!” Neville passed Evangeline along to her godmother/aunt and swung me around in a hug. I was grateful for the closeness to my friends they were practically family at this point. “I've missed you guys so much!”

A couple of heads turns around the store and Neville finally put me down. Luna wrapped me in her hug. “Look at you Hermione, you get more beautiful every time I see you. Come let me take a look at you.”

I laugh at my friend’s antics. “You sound like an old lady Luna.”

“Pish posh. Narggles are affecting your brains. Now turn.”

I smile at her silliness and turn. Black slacks with matching black stilettoes and a V neckline blouse and blazer folded at the elbows. I had my hair half up half down with a rose bun on the back and strands placed to frame my face. A pearl necklace and bracelet plus diamond earrings that fit me perfectly finished my look and had me simple, elegant, and looking like a million bucks without breaking a sweat.

Several wolf whistles rang out as I spun for Luna. “Someone Agumenti her. She’s smoking.” She joked.

“Right back in your general direction Luna.” It was true. With a midi skirt, ankle booties, and a brown cardigan closed at the waist by a belt, she was looking like a very well-dressed Lady of her status with more than a hint of her Lunaness.

“Ohh are we comparing outfits? Do me next. Do me next!”

Neville performed his own twirl and we couldn’t stop laughing. Evangeline did her own in her adorable Mary Janes and skirts. Unlike me, she was much girlier in her dressing. Blue polka dot skirt with white (enchanted of course) shoes and shirt. I’d even managed to calm her hair enough to put a bow in.

Being three of Britain’s most notorious residents and a young witchling in the making, we made quite the group and grabbed everyone’s attention.

“It's Hermione Granger!”

“Is it really her?”

“Miss Granger! Miss Granger!”

People took pictures and crowded around us. I usher Evangeline to Neville and push him and Luna inside to the ice cream parlor. I smile and with a flick of my wand, every camera pointed my way stopped working.

“Please, I do not appreciate people crowding or taking pictures of my _underage_ daughter without my permission. Next time I’ll do more than just freezing them in place.” I said in my coldest tone. Most shivered and stepped away from me. Not having been in the country or not people still knew better than to mess with me.

Someone grabs my hands. It's an older man with tears in his eyes. “Thank you. Thank you, Miss Granger. The werewolf cure- there are not enough words for me to thank you, Miss. You gave me a job, you gave me my life back. Thank you just thank you.” Someone tried to pull the man away and I simply wave them off.

“Thank you, sir, for believing in me enough to even try my cure. It warms my heart to see the people who I have helped have a better life. It is for people like you that I continue working.”

Pressing a kiss and my business card into his hand I watch him walk away and I turn to look back at the crowd of reporters that were watching my every move. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

They did not wait a second. “When did you arrive in Great Britain?”

“This morning.”

“What are your plans now that you’re back?”

“I plan on spending some time reconnecting with old friends.”

“Did you leave Great Britain because you were pregnant?”

More and more questions were thrown my way but I focused on the reported who accused me of running away. “Let us get something straight and you _will_ quote me on this.

“I left Great Britain because for me it was the right thing for me to do. I needed to find my parents whose memory I erased and I needed to distance myself from the horrors of the war. I was involved in the war from the moment I stepped foot in the magical world. I needed a respite and so when I had the chance to leave I took it.

“I was not and never was running away. I did not leave because I was pregnant. I needed a break and I needed to make a name out of myself aside from the Man-Who-Won’s Mudblood friend. I am so much more than a war heroine and I left so that the title would not define me.

“For you to even assume that my daughter had anything to do with my decision is an insult to my person. My daughter has enjoyed our travels and has not been affected negatively in any way, shape, or form. She’s made friends all over the world, has mastered more languages than most people will ever bother to do and has inspired everyone around her to be the best person possible. If any of you even think about defaming her then I can promise you that that will be the last thing any of you will do. No pictures, no mentions of her without my explicit permission or there will be hell to pay.”

Many seemed angry at my barring them from writing about the most interesting thing that my return had provided still, my previous answer took the heat off most of the reporters if only for fear of facing my wrath. Most were scribbling away in response to my little speech and those that weren’t still hanged to my every word and continued to ask questions. “What project are you going to work on in Great Britain Miss Granger?”

“Currently I have no set project in mind. I work as I go, not because I have a set place in mind to complete my work in. I traveled all of Asia before I finally made my breakthrough in the cure to Lycanthropy. I toured South America and Africa before the idea occurred to me to create a translating charm.”

“Are you saying then that you don’t plan on working in Great Britain and bringing prestige to your homeland? You left because you couldn’t deal with the reconstruction of the homeland that you _helped_ destroy and left in despair, and now can’t even bring yourself to do some good to the people? How selfish of you Miss Granger.”

I smile sharply. “Rita Skeeter. How utterly disgusting to see you again.”

She smiled back just as venomously. “You haven’t answered the question, Miss Granger. Are you perhaps trying to avoid it?”

I laugh and finger my _expensive_ pearls making sure that more than one reporter got sight of it. “I would answer your question, Miss Skeeter if you had asked one. As far as I am concerned what you said was a very pointy attempt at a jab at me. But if you are referring to what work I will be performing in Great Britain the simple answer is: I don’t know. It will depend on my availability. Headmistress McGonagall has asked me to teach at Hogwarts so most of my attention will be there. Did you catch that this time or must I repeat myself?”

“Who’s the father Hermione?” Skeeter persisted.

“With all due respect Rita, that is frankly none of your business.”

“Is it Neville Longbottom? The fiancée of your friend Luna Lovegood?”

I ignore the witch animagus. “Thank you everyone for your warm welcome but I must go back to my daughter now, it is her first time in the country after all. Please excuse me.”

I walk towards the entrance of the ice cream shop but turn back at the last moment. “Oh, and by the way Rita? I was born in France. I had my pick between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. So, no. Magical Great Britain is not my homeland.”

* * *

**August 2004**

**Wizarding Wireless Network News**

**The Return of the Golden Daughter**

After more than five years of absence, the only female of the Golden Trio is back on British soil. The return of Hermione Grange, the so-called “Brightest Witch of her Age”, came to the surprise of many. Mistress Granger was spotted by fans and the press alike when she made her way into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour with her young daughter and old school friends, Lord Neville Longbottom and his fiancée Luna Lovegood, neither of which, sources say, knew of her return.

“So, I’m standing in line behind them you know? And then there comes this little girl out of nowhere asking for ice cream. Of course, Lord Longbottom wasn’t just going to buy sweets for some random kid but when he looks at her it’s like his whole face light up! He swung her around and did the same with Hermione Granger when he saw her. Both him and Lovegood were so surprised."

While we here at WWNN don’t know all the news regarding Mistress Granger’s return, some are already speculating it might have something to do with her recent run-in with Neo-Death Eaters in Germany. Others say that the timing might just match because of the teaching invitation Headmistress McGonagall extended to the renowned Mistress. But whatever the reason, we at WWNN are happy to welcome Mistress Granger back to the country.

To learn more about Hermione Granger’s trip to Germany turn to page 4.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 12 and 14, 2004

**August 12, 2004**

I walk in with my head held high back to Fortescue’s. A nod to all the appropriate people and a smile to all the little girls who need someone to be their proof that the sky's the limit. I’m my fully pleasant self until I’m safely alone in the bathroom and I can finally let the tears fly.

I didn’t use to be like this. Before the press couldn’t penetrate my thick skin but it took only one reporter to almost ruin Evangeline’s life. I splash water on my face, reapply my makeup and I was out the door to meet my family.

“Did you guys order yet?”

**August 14, 2004**

Two days. I had been back two days and still, I couldn’t force myself to face everyone I left behind. Don’t get me wrong I feel _nothing_ but that didn’t mean that it still wouldn’t hurt. I thought they’d been my friends but after so many years without any attempts at contacting me tore at my self-esteem. I helped them fight a war for Merlin’s sake! Wasn’t I worth an owl now and then? Or was I just a dispensable know-it-all? They wouldn’t have survived First Year without me-

“Hermione?”

I lifted my gaze from my book on animal-based potions ingredients Keelan sent me and smile. “Ginny.” I rose to meet her halfway and kiss her cheeks as the French do. No need to hide my parentage any longer. “How have you been?”

The red-headed girl turned woman tried to wipe discreetly at her cheeks but we both knew she’d done it, after all, if it wasn’t native to Great Britain then it was to be pushed aside as decreed by the Weasley matriarch. Still, I held my tongue from saying anything. Guess Fleur hadn’t changed their minds after all. “How have I been? Please the real question here is how you've been. Merlin Hermione, we haven’t seen you since the final battle!”

“Pictures not enough for you Gin?” I joke.

“You know what I mean Herms.” That accursed nickname.

“Yes, well I’ve been busy you know?” I respond neutrally.

Ginny smiles amiably as she orders a cuppa. “You should make more time for your friends then.”

And now I remember why I didn’t like you. “Funny you mention that.” I put my cup down with a small smile that hid behind shadows. “I did make time. You remember all those times I invited you and your family, right? I even offered to pay for Portkeys and accommodations for you all yet you’ve always refused.” I said staring her straight in the eyes.

Ginny waves all my words away like they were inconsequential. “Well you know I can’t with me playing Quidditch all the time and we don’t like charity you know that.” She answered with minimal fluster.

I arch an eyebrow. “Ron’s and your war hero royalties not enough? Not to mention your Quidditch salary, Ron’s Auror pay, and Arthur’s salary as well. I hadn’t realized your paychecks would be so…minute.” I lift my cup to my mouth as her faces redden whether in embarrassment or anger at being caught is anyone’s guess. Maybe it had to do with my ruby ring? I needed to stop rubbing my success in people’s faces.

I let her bask in her supposed incompetence. “Do not think me stupid Ginevra. You didn’t want to see me if you had you would have found a way to.”

She glared at me and I responded in kind. Good. We weren’t children anymore and I would not be cowered by her nor her family any longer. “So many assumptions _Hermy_. How could you know what we do or don’t get paid? How could you even presume to know if we had the time or not? _We_ stayed here, we never moved. You could have more easily come to us than expect the entire family to uproot themselves to visit _one_ girl.” The claws were out for us lionesses. We’d have a catfight soon if we didn’t tone it down. There was a time and place and here was neither.

“Such venomous words from such a little girl. Tell me does Harry know what snake he has in his life?” I sneer. “I’ve kept track of you Ginevra, of all of those that stayed and I must say I’m not impressed but it is what it is. I didn’t come here to start any fights so why don’t you tell me what’s going on with your life?”

The rest of our conversation passed in relative peace with an undertone of resentment and outright anger at the other party. Many people stopped for the chance to speak to a famous Quidditch player and her even more famous Mover and Shaker of a friend. Ginny was the more enthusiastic of the two, but I attracted followers in my own right with a calm presence and intelligent words.

Calculating that I had finally spent my be-seen-in-public-to-diffuse-absurd-rumors quota of the day I apologized to the crowds and made to leave. “We need to do this again Ginny.”

Ginevra smiled back. “We do.” Tight smiles, kisses on the cheeks and I was off.

Ginny’s p.o.v

I let the door slam behind me. It did nothing to abate my anger but it did make me feel better when I thought of the door closing on _her_ face. “Mum!”

“In the kitchen dear. Can you set the table, please? Harry and Ronald are coming to dinner tonight and I want everything to be-”

“Hermione is back in the country.” No sugarcoating, no warning, I just laid it down bare for her to see.

Silence. Mum stopped waving her wand around and dried her hands on her apron as was her usual tick when she was caught off balance. “What?”

I drop into the nearest chair available. “Hermione is back in Great Britain Mum. I saw it in the paper this morning but I didn’t think they were speaking the truth. She has a daughter Mum! What kind of woman does that to herself at twenty-four!”

“Bring me the Prophet, Ginny. I want to know just what they managed to get out of her.” Mum ordered.

So, I did. And learn we did. The Great Hermione Granger was back in Britain for an undetermined amount of time with no set plans in the future aside from teaching a couple of kids in Hogwarts. She was very protective of her daughter and didn’t allow any pictures of her. Oh. And she is a French-born bird. _Joy._

Mum folded her hands on the table. Her posture was deceiving. She was too calm for it to be natural for her. “Well, it’s good to know that Hermione is back home. We’ll have to invite her for dinner one of these days but shame on her for not making a house call or something. For shame.”

Mum’s words washed over me as my eyes stayed glued to the next paragraph. “Ginny dear?”

I throw the newspaper at Mum and scream.

“Ginny!”

My hands went to my hair in complete fury. After all this time waiting for _him_. “A green and a brown eye! Her daughter has a green and a brown eye!”

“Ginny?” Mum asked.

A plate meets the wall from my fury. “Hermione fucking Granger’s daughter is Harry’s! The love of my life has a daughter with the brainy know-it-all!”

She too froze but quickly got herself under control unlike myself. “Lets’ not jump to conclusions. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this. Besides, Harry has never left the country, he couldn’t possibly have a child with her if he hasn’t left and she wasn’t here.”

“You don’t get it, Mum. She’s ruining everything,” I cried. All my plans of being the future Mrs. Potter laid in ruins. When Harry learned that he had a daughter he would abandon me to be with the mother. He would ‘do right by it’ and marry Hermione-bloody-Granger. “She came back to ruin our lives.”

Mum knelt in front of me and patted my back. “There is no proof that this girl is Harry’s daughter do you hear me? There’s no picture to go off and the timing does not coincide. And if she is his daughter then we will deal with it as it comes.”

My head falls into her shoulder. “I don’t want her to be his daughter. I want Harry to be _mine_.”

“You won’t get him looking like that. Go clean up before the boys come back.”

“What has to happen before we come back?” Said the dulcet voice of one Harry Potter.

* * *

**August 14, 2004**

**The Daily Prophet**

**Hermione Granger Back on British Soil**

With reports coming in from all around the country, the Daily Prophet can finally confirm that one Hermione Granger, one-third of the Golden Trio, is officially back in the country and not just as a short stint either.

Sources say that the Hogwarts House Elves have been working to clean out a new set of teaching apartments in Hogwarts with various letters being sent out to current Hogwarts students alerting them of an “exciting” new opportunity for the upcoming academic year.

The last time something “exciting” happened at Hogwarts was the Tri-Wizard Tournament that resulted in the death of Cedric Diggory, the first official casualty of the Second Blood War. Here at the Prophet we sincerely hope that this “exciting” news doesn’t result in the death of another student. But regardless of what her official role would be at Hogwarts, many readers are more concerned with the inevitable reunion of the trio of best friends. So far no word has reached the Prophet about said reunion but we are keeping an eye out to see exactly what welcome the two males of the trio will give their wayward Third.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 14, 2004

Harry’s p.o.v

I stare expectantly at the two most important women in my life. “Guys?”

Ginny smiles sheepishly at us. “I just came from Diagon Alley, I wanted to clean up so we wouldn’t end up fighting for the loo.”

I smile at my girlfriend of two years. “Too late now. Ron’s already on his way up there.”

“Drats.”

I offer her my hand and pull her to her feet pressing a kiss to her forehead. “There's always the other bathroom Gin.”

“But the second-floor one is the best!” She pouted. I laugh and pull her closer. “Eww Harry no! You’re all sweaty!”

That just made me laugh harder. Auror workload might have decreased since the war but there were still criminals to be caught and a figure to maintain. “I just want to love you Gin.”

Ginny wriggled free from my grasp and ran away. “Not until you take a bath!”

I was going to chase after her when a wooden spoon hit me in the head. “None of that Harry. Go wait for Ron to get out of the shower. Dinner will be done soon.”

Obediently I follow Mrs.Weasley’s orders. I was sweaty and most definitely hungry. The rumors that I had been hearing today …let’s just say people should be grateful I wasn’t on the field today. The training dummies could attest to that. If Hermione was back, then we had a lot to talk about.

I take my time going up the stairs but 10 minutes into waiting outside the bathroom, I kicked Ron out. “I’m not done!”

“Too busy washing your luxurious locks, Lockhart?” I tease.

“I resent that comment!” Ron answered back in jest. “My locks are more like Goldilocks’.” We share a good laugh and go our separate ways. I needed to wash all the grime away so I could focus on our phantom friend.

Fifteen minutes later I was out of the shower and in clean clothes courtesy of Molly’s insistence that we all have at least a change of clothes at home. I went downstairs to find everyone waiting for me. “Too busy washing your luxurious locks, Potter?” Ron teased using my words against me.

“I have hair. You’re already losing yours.” I shot back. Ron's hands fly to his hair. Hair loss was one of his biggest fears.

We continue bickering like we’ve done so many times in the past 13 years. Like I should have been doing with Hermione as well. She should be here sitting with us instead of traveling around the world alone in hopes of Merlin knows what.

“Harry?” I lift my head to look at Ginny.

“Yes?” I ask in response.

She throws a look at her mother and father. “You’ve gone…quiet. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just thinking that Hermione should have been here. With us." With me. Sound around the table quiets when I mention her name. It had been so long since any of us said her name out loud it wouldn't have surprised me if we had forgotten what she looked like. Except Hermione Granger had a love affair with magazine and journal covers every now and then. Closer to the now part of that relationship. 

“You’ve heard the rumors then?” Arthur asked putting his knife and fork down.

Ron and I shared a look. Today had not been a good day because of those damn rumors. “Yes. They’re saying that Hermione is back. We had a lot of blokes stopping and asking if we could set them up with her or something. Bloody gits.” Ron said stabbing his fork into his steak and kidney pie. Hermione abandoning us was still a sore subject for him.

It was Molly’s turn to speak now. “You haven’t seen the newspaper, yet have you?” She asked.

“Of course, not. Even with Voldemort dead, the Prophet is still just a bunch of rags and trash stories.” I answer before shoveling more food into my mouth.

Ginny grabs my hand and I feel a pit forming. I put my fork down and stare at her. “Harry, they weren’t lying. Hermione _is_ back. I saw her in the new café, the one that opened up a couple of weeks ago.”

No. Just _no._ “You’re trying to tell me that my best friend is back, and she couldn’t even bother to owl me!?”

Everyone was looking worriedly at me. This was a new level of emotion that I was reaching in years. Ron was my best mate but Hermione was the person that I could turn to for everything, even over Ginny. Even now there were some things that I wouldn’t tell her but wouldn’t hesitate to tell the old Hermione. “Harry dear, the newspaper said that she arrived Thursday. She’s probably settling in before contacting anyone.” Molly tried to placate.

“There’s a picture of her and Luna.” Ginny pipes in.

“She chooses to see Luna over us?” Ron roared.

“Where’s the paper, Molly? I want to see exactly what she did.” I say my hands trembling in poorly concealed anger because the other emotions weren’t what I wanted to focus on.

“I’m sorry dear. I threw it out earlier, I didn’t believe the headlines until Ginny came home and told me.” Molly responded.

This day just couldn’t get worse, could it? “I’ll go down to Diagon Alley then and buy a copy.”

Ginny next to me sighs. “What’s the point? She’ll see us when she wants to see us. That is of course if little-Miss-Famous even wants to see us.”

“We’re her best friends why wouldn’t she want to see us?” Asked Ron.

I glare at my plate. Beside me, Ginny answers him. “She hasn’t made that much of an effort to see us, Ronald.”

“She’s sent letters, hasn’t she? When was the last time any of you lot responded to her?” We freeze at Mr.Weasley’s words.

Mrs.Weasley drops her cutlery on the table. “Arthur you can’t be taking her side!”

“I’m not Molly. I’m just saying she might be mad at us since we haven’t owled recently. Not to mention that we’ve refused to visit her when she asked us. You know how Hermione is. That girl can hold a grudge.” Arthur says.

I think back to the last letter Hermione sent me. It was about two years or so when she was in China? No, that was after I think. She was in the Amazons. She asked me to spend a few days with her before she went to her next country. I don’t even remember how I responded I just know that she didn’t reply and didn’t try to contact me again. _Fuck._

“Hermione knows that we’re all too busy with our lives Arthur. You can’t just leave the ministry and neither can the boys. Ginny’s barely home as it is! How can she expect us to just uproot ourselves?” Molly argued

“Well yes dear, you do have a point there Molly.” Arthur conceded.

I nodded with Arthur. For possibly five or eight of us to visit her, it just made more sense for her to visit us. I would owl Hermione after dinner. I need to know why she left when I needed her the most and why she couldn’t even try and visit us. Hermione owed us too many explanations and I was determined to get them.

**August 15, 2004**

Hermione’s p.o.v

 _Dear Keelan_ , I began my letter. I could have Flooed him but writing letters was a better means of communication between us. There were still time differences to account for and he might be at work when I called him and I’d rather not disturb him if he was.

_I have been in England for three days now and it’s not getting easier. When I’m with Evangeline or with Luna or Neville I can pretend that everything is okay. But every time I turn around I can still see the destroyed shops and the bodies on the floor. I want to see only the good things but I can’t help remembering the past._

_Evangeline is taking very well in England. There’s still a few weeks of summer and she’s enjoying them to the fullest. You should see her running around the gardens. It’s like she’s a forest sprite. You wouldn’t think she was my daughter if it wasn’t for Neville dragging her out of the library to get fresh air. Of course, I still wouldn’t change her for the world. She might be an energetic ray of sunshine but she’s my ball of sunshine._

_Now I know what you’re probably thinking but I just want her to enjoy herself first okay? I have the invitations written out and I just need to mail them. But, Keelan, I’m so scared. And angry. They still think that the world still revolves around them and don’t care about anyone else’s problems. Not once did they ask me why I couldn’t come to Great Britain – mind you a secret like Evangeline isn’t something you say by owl – but just assumed that I was too into my life to be involved in theirs. They didn’t give no matter how much I asked even when I gave as much as I could. How is that fair? I begged and begged them to come but they just wouldn’t and painted me as the bad guy -err person. I don’t want them to hurt Evangeline._

I had to stop writing or I would rip the room apart in my anger. Neville wouldn’t exactly mind as long as I put it back together but I needed to gain control of my emotions. Evangeline could walk in at any moment and I needed to be a good example for her.

‘Deep breaths Hermione, deep breaths.’ I continue writing the letter.

_But that doesn’t matter Keelan. Evangeline deserves to know her father’s side without my bias thoughts or opinions. I will send out the dinner invitations in one week and use this time to deal with my emotions._

_Harry owled last night but I going to put off our meeting until he’s had the opportunity to meet Evangeline. I would not allow him to meet her and already have resentment towards what’s kept me away. Speaking of which, no problems on my side of the pond. Evangeline’s fine and healthy and so am I. Thank you for worrying so much about us. It’s been hard dealing with Evangeline’s-_

“Mama!”

I put my quill down and smile at the love of my life lifting her to my lap. “What is it Sunshine?”

Evangeline returns the gesture and hugs me as tight as she can and I do the same. There was no shortage of hugs in the Granger family. I made sure of that. “Mama Uncle Nev is acting silly again and Auntie Luna says tea is ready but Mama I’m hungry and want food, not tea!”

I laugh and press a kiss to Evangeline’s hair. “Tea is another way of saying dinner in England, sweetie. Your aunt Luna says that because she knows you wouldn’t know. Now come, let’s go before your uncle eats everything and leaves us the scraps.” We were at the doorway now and I knew Neville could hear everything from the foyer.

“I heard that!”

“You were supposed to!” I yell back. At my side, Evangeline giggles, and I took her down to dinner.

_-episodes but it’s gotten better having such a great support group around me. Her seizures have all but disappeared thanks to all the treatments. Sorry for dumping all this on you but Keelan, there are not enough words in the world to truly demonstrate how grateful I am to have a friend like you._

_Love,_

_Hermione Granger._

_World’s bushiest hair owner_

_P.S: Evangeline sends her love._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 16, 2004

‘Deep breaths Hermione. Deep breaths.’ I plaster a smile on my face and walk into the street. Even when I still feel the buildings crowding over me, I keep a steady pace and try not to falter. ‘Gringotts. Apothecary. Knockturn. Home.’ Short, simple, and in no way resurfacing painful memories.

At least that was the plan. But plans don’t last long upon contact. There was tension in the Alley as everyone stared at me. Rita’s articles at work here once again. Four days. I’ve been back for four bloody days and already the Britons made me want to leave.

“Traitor.” I pretend I don’t even hear the voice behind me and stay in my cool façade.

“Coward.”

“Deserter.”

Tears prickled behind my eyes as I saw the faces sneering and throwing hateful looks at me. ‘I risked my life for all of you!’ I wanted to scream. ‘When you left the fight to children I fought for you! What else do you want from me?’

Discreetly tightening my hand around my wand I let none of my thoughts reach my face. Don’t let it show that their words mean anything. ‘Ignore them. Ignore them. You’ve done this a thousand times before Hermione. You can do it a thousand times more.’

I was climbing Gringott’s steps when I heard it. It was louder than the rest. “Who’s the father, whore?”

Every blood vessel in my body froze. Sharply turning on my heel, I face the offending person with my wand at ready. “Excuse me?” I nearly hiss. “I don’t think I quite caught that. You wouldn’t be happening to be calling me a whore, are you?”

The man didn’t say a word. No one did. My magic was wild and suffocating everyone else’s. “Of course, you didn’t. I mean you people do remember who helped defeat Voldemort right? You know that I’m hailed as the Brightest Witch of the Century and would have no problem raining hell on this country.

“Listen to me and listen to me well. Say what you want about me, my work, my blood status. But the moment that you insult my daughter I will remind you why I’ve earned my titles. If you don’t believe then maybe you should ask the Germans what happened to the pureblood fanatics that tried to lay a hand on my daughter."

With one last glare at the people of the Alley, I make my way into the bank. I wanted to get out as soon as possible. Even more so from the country.

Two hours and forty-five minutes later, I walk back into the sunlight with an account ledger and an extracted promise to advocate for better treatment of sentient beings. All the royalties and investments were paying off nicely and the donations were still coming in. I would have to see what projects I can take on while mentoring at Hogwarts.

“Hermione.”

My chest tightens when I hear his voice and my heart raced at the sight of haunting green eyes that have chased me for the past six years. A real, honest-to-God smile blooms on my face and I’ve forgotten all about the marginalization from him and everyone else.

“Harry.” I breathe out. By Merlin, I missed his smile, his face, his _everything_.

Harry meets me halfway in Gringott’s stairs. His arms wrap around me and I allow myself the time to forget that there was once a time where we never went longer than a class period without speaking.

His arms release me and we’re back in reality. “I’ve heard that you’ve been terrorizing the general populace.” He says jokingly but there’s a hardness in his eyes I can’t ignore.

My smile disappears. A shrug from my part and a more hardened look. “Is that what they're calling it?" I ask even when I know that yes, they would call it that. I shrug and move out of Harry's reach. "They can call me the next Dark Lady as long as they leave my daughter alone.”

Harry grits his teeth. "That's another thing. No owls in years and then you send one to invite us to dinner at Neville’s? What are you doing back in England Hermione? Since when do you have a daughter?”

I force myself to smile. "Loving the welcome home, Harry. But you're going to have to interrogate me in a more private area. My life isn't a quidditch match for the world to gawk at in the busiest shopping district in magical Britain.”

He chuckles darkly. “My best friend of seven years leaves me for six years with maybe some owls now and then. I don’t hear anything from you for two years-”

I glare at him all traces of my earlier happiness at seeing him gone. “Don’t you dare blame me. Every time I tried to contact you it was all about Harry Potter.”

“-and when you do come back I have to find out by way of rumors and newspaper. I deserve to know the truth!”

“And I deserved a friend," I respond blandly. I want to keep talking but I'm too aware of the people crowding the Gringotts steps. I shake my head. "Come to Neville's or don't Harry but I'm not arguing with you here."

I try to push past him to the Leaky Cauldron but he didn't move. My chest throbbed painfully, breaths came harder and I cursed myself. I was not going to have a panic attack in the middle of the Alley. “Harry please, I’ll tell you what you want to know just not here.”

“No! Aren’t I your best friend? Don’t I deserve to know? Hermione, no matter what happened I’ll never think less of you.”

Water rushed over my head. I hadn't felt frozen over since Germany. My heart returns to a normal heartbeat and a dark, ugly anger burn in me. “Think less of me?” A cold laugh escapes me. “I don’t care what the world thinks of me, Harry. It’s already thought the worst. Your _opinion_ won’t hurt me.”

He looks like I slapped him. The Golden boy probably never had someone look down on him since he won the war. There were no, ‘I’ll help you’s or promises to stand by me. Of course not. “We’ll talk later Harry. I still have errands to run.” I try to brush past him again and succeed.

But the fact that I denied his importance lit him up too. Harry’s hand clasped almost painfully around my arm. “I need to know. What was so important that you had to abandon your home country for six years? Why did you abandon me!”

“You want to know why I left Great Britain? I was tired.” I said emotionlessly. Our row would be front-page news tomorrow. But a hysterical Hermione Granger was not a picture they would get. “I. Was. Tired. Of your war, of the hatred, of missing my family. I gave everything for a war that never should have been mine in the first place. And I was tired.” I look him in the eye. “And then I was pregnant.”

Harry looked shell shocked. “What?”

“Need I explain the birds and the bees to you do I Harry?” Cold indifference is what I embodied. The outside couldn’t hurt me or see inside. I was unshakeable even by the truth that I almost didn’t want to let out.

“Who’s is it? Is it Ron’s!”

I chuckle drily. We were attracting attention now. “Six years and people still think that Ronald and I would ever be a thing,” I stare straight into his eyes, never wavering, “Any Harry. You know exactly who’s the father.”

I had wanted to wait until Sunday. Let his reaction happen indoors, away from prying eyes, but it was always about catering to Harry Potter’s needs. And I was too cold to care about him. “You have a daughter Harry. Her name is Evangeline and she turns six this Thursday. Do try to attend since waiting and extra two days is a foreign concept to you.”

Still not caring about the shocked looks present in people’s faces, I remove Harry’s hand from my arm and continue on my way. ‘Apothecary. Knockturn. Home.’

“Where do you think you’re going?”

An eyebrow raises in response. “I told you. I have errands to run.”

“You can’t just say something like that and walk away!”

“Watch me.” One foot in front of the other I make it as far as the next dark corner before I give up and hide to release my tears alone.

Draco’s p.o.v

I silently watch Granger walk away from Potter and into a secluded hidey-hole. I had to have been the only one to notice her warm aura change into a cold imitation the more Potter pushed her into talking. Her body was tense during most of their exchange, only letting up when she threw barbs at him.

I had to agree with Granger. Telling someone you hadn’t seen in years that you were pregnant with his child wasn’t something you wanted to do in the busiest shopping district of London. Still, my chest tightens at the thought of not knowing my beautiful son Scorpius.

Granger was shaking. It was a surprise no one had noticed her yet but they were probably ignoring her existence in favor of helping their Golden Boy. Part of me wanted to leave her alone but the bigger, better part of myself said to lend the hand that no one else would.

Screw it.

I swerve and dodge around the dozens of people in the Alley. It was packed with students, parents, and the nosy interlopers to the latest celebrity drama. By evening every person would know that the Man-Who-Conquered had a daughter with the Brightest Witch of the Century. By tomorrow it would be all over the world. No one could hope to have international fame and keep a secret like this one. Hell, I’m surprised no one figured it out sooner.

Making sure to approach the wound-up witch with loud footsteps, I kneel beside where she’d fallen and watch with wide eyes as tears fall from honey eyes. “Granger? Are you okay?”

The realization that there was someone was with her sent Granger into a flurry to make herself presentable. When her hand shook for the third time trying to pull at her robe I step in and do it for her. She was more distraught than I thought.

“Gr-Hermione?”

Her name seemed to open a whole new bout of tears. “No, I’m not okay! The British people hate me for not living up to their expectations and now Harry goddamned Potter made me reveal to the entire world the parentage of my daughter. What do you think the press will do with that information? _Burn her alive!_ ”

Her cries were getting worse. If I didn’t get her out of there people would notice soon. “Come on. Let’s go someplace more private. You can rage there all you want.”

Throwing a disillusionment charm over us, I grab Granger’s arm and guide her to a secluded tea shop not many would think to frequent so early in the day. “Your strongest calming tea please,” I said when we were inside and visible again.

The waitress takes one look at Hermione and nods.

“Gr-Hermione. I know that we have a bad history between us and I can’t condone your decision to keep your daughter a secret but if you want to talk…”

For a moment I thought she would just stay there and not say a word. She just sat there staring at the table. “It happened after Ron left us.”

Pause. “What happened?” I asked. Maybe if I got her talking she could leave whatever was holding her back behind.

“We slept together.” The waitress leaves the cuppa and I wave her off. Granger continued to speak.

“We were hurt, cold, and in need of comfort. My period stopped coming a few months back but it had always been irregular so I didn’t pay it much mind. I thought that it had been the stress or the lack of food that stopped it completely. When Ron came back that night was just an incident better left forgotten.”

“You only slept together that one time?”

She shrugged in response. “It only takes one time Draco.” She gripped her cup tighter. I hadn’t noticed when she first grabbed it. “You have to believe me when I say that I didn’t know. If I had I would have packed my bags and left for my parents.”

Okay then. It didn’t explain why Potter didn’t know or why it caused such a strong reaction from her, but it was obvious that she wouldn’t say another word.

“Okay.”

Her head shot up. “Okay? Is that all you’re going to say? No reprimands for not telling Harry or even why I left the country?”

I shrug. “Sure, I’d like to know but I’m hardly the best person to ask. Like I said there’s bad blood between us. Besides, we’re all entitled to our secrets.”

Granger gaped at me for a few seconds before regaining control of herself. “You might be the first person to say that to me Malfoy. Thank you.”

The rest of our tea was drunk in silence. People came and went but we remained in our isolated bubble.

“Why are you doing this Malfoy?”

For a moment I consider getting up and leaving the tea shop behind. I didn’t have to answer but guilt and gratitude kept me rooted to my spot.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Granger was more composed more and her face clean of any trace of her previous makeup.

“I’m sorry.” Stony silence from her. The noise from the shop dulled in comparison to the roar of my conscious demand for absolution. “For looking down on you and for being a total arse. I’m sorry for not standing up to my Father and siding with the Dark Lord. I was wrong-”

“Draco. I know.” Her hand left her cup and squeezed mine. It was my time to be the emotional one.

“No, you don’t know! Merlin Granger, I made our school years miserable. I tortured muggles and muggleborns. I helped that madman Hermione. The blood of all those innocent people will never leave me.”

“The fact that you’re repentant shows that you want to make up for what you did. Not many people look back and accept their actions for the horror they were. That you do means that you’re trying to be a better person now.”

“I’m so sorry Hermione.”

“If forgiveness is what you want then I give it to you: I forgive you Draco Malfoy.”

* * *

**Explosive Encounter at Gringotts!**

**By Rita Skeeter**

Since Hermione Granger stepped foot in Great Britain again last week everyone has been on the edge of their seats to see what kind of reunion the Golden Trio would have. And today we got it.

After entering Diagon Alley and terrorizing the good citizens of Britain, the salacious witch greeted her former friend Harry Potter most enthusiastically, almost as if she "forgot" Ginny Weasley even existed. But the warm welcome didn't last for long. When asked about her reasons, the foreign witch sidestepped the questions agreeing to speak with him only if they moved to another location. Makes one wonder about the price of her information and the ethicality of her information gathering. 

Of course, our dear hero held strong and made the witch confess her sins for all of Diagon Alley to hear. Like many had believed, Hermione Granger ran away from Great Britain after not being able to deal with the weight of her failures. And so Miss Granger disked away into the night and took her daughter with her. Who's father turned out to be none other than Harry Potter himself. 

Yes, dear readers. Hermione Granger's daughter is none other than the Potter Heir. Using Mr. Potter's surprise she fled. Was it to hide her shame? Does she even have any shame? Dear readers, I have been one of the reporters trailing Hermione's career and controversy has trailed her every step. Now she has also separated a child from her father. Is this the latest in the Granger saga? What other despicable acts will this witch perform next?

* * *

Brown hands tear the paper apart. This Skeeter was causing problems again. He would have to deal with her once and for all. Hermione would not shed another tear because of that damned witch. Mwari be his witness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwari is a deity. I won't say which religion to not give any spoilers but feel free to guess!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 19, 2004

Hermione’s p.o.v

“Mama that dress looks beautiful!”

I look at my reflection standing in the mirror. The burgundy dress clung to my figure and showcased my every curve. The slit on the front lets my legs move around comfortably, it was a simple dress only shining because of the jewelry. I meet Evangeline’s eyes in the mirror. “Thank you, Evangeline you look very pretty too. Did Luna help you pick the dress?”

“I picked it all by myself.” She said proudly. And she had something to be proud of. The black polka dot dress looked adorable on her.

My eyes shoot to her feet. I sigh at what I see. “Evangeline, you can’t wear those shoes tonight.”

Evangeline clicked her little dress shoes in a pout. “But Mama! You’re wearing heels!”

I stop applying my mascara. “Mama’s an adult who’ll stay inside. You’re a kid who’ll be frolicking through the garden and being an all-around nuisance.” I joke.

“I’m not a nuishance!”

“Ny-uh-sance Sunshine. And of course, you’re not, you know Mama’s just joking.”

“Me knows.”

“‘I know’.” I corrected gently.

“Mhm!”

A House Elf popped into the room. “Miss Grangy, Mistress Luna be asking if little Miss Eva and Miss Grangy need help getting ready? Guests be here in half an hour.”

I look at Evangeline and myself. Evangeline needed to change her shoes and I wasn’t done with my mascara but, “we’re fine Loly, thank you. However, could you get Evangeline’s black flats please?”

“Loly bes right back Miss.”

In and out the elf popped out with the shoes. “Evangeline,” I say.

Brown curls bounced as she pouted but obeyed. “Okay, Mama.”

I nod at her and beckon her over. “Come Sunshine. We still need to do your makeup.”

“Makeup!” She asked excitedly. I laugh internally. I was never one for girly things at her age.

“Why of course! Lip gloss for your lips and eye shadow for your gorgeous little eyes.” I tell her. She runs over and climbs into my lap. I give in to my need to have my child close. “Evangeline.”

“Mama?”

I burrow my head into her curly locks. This was my daughter and I would die before I lost her. “Mama loves you very much. You’re the world, the moon, and the stars for me. Even when you drive up the walls, I thank the universe for putting you in my life and I thank it each and every day that you're still with me. I love you, Evangeline. Never _ever_ doubt that.”

I try to will the tears out of my eyes. It wouldn’t do for Evangeline to see me crying and become upset herself. Her small arms wrap around me and a sob escapes me.

“It’s okay Mama.” She reassured. “Evangeline loves you too.”

“Everything okay here?”

Evangeline unwrapped herself from my grasp and went running to her favorite uncle. “Hi, uncle Neville.”

Charming away and damning evidence of my episode, I clean the makeup table and grab the gloss and palette for Evangeline. “I’m fine just got a little emotional.” I walked up to them and kneeled in front of Evangeline. “Close your eyes sunshine.” She does as I ask her and soon dab her with the slightest hint of makeup. I didn’t want my little girl to grow up so fast.

Neville extends his arm and I grab it thankfully. “We will be talking about this later.” He whispers as he pulls me up. Louder he says, “shall we?”

Evangeline grabs his hands and I keep a hold on his arms conscious of my footing. One glance at Evangeline and I relax. ‘You survived Death Eaters, corrupt Ministries officials, and power-hungry crowds that would as sooner tear you down than build you up. You can survive a damn family dinner, Granger.’

Luna meet us at the end of the hallway. “Finally, we have ten minutes before they arrive.”

I drop Neville’s arm and make Luna loop hers. As their sister, it was my sworn duty to make them spend as much time together as possible. It might just speed up the long-awaited wedding. Instead of walking down to the foyer myself, I grab Evangeline’s hand and we descend the stairs as a family. Lady Augusta was waiting for us downstairs.

“Grandmama Gusta!”

I speed walk alongside Eva to the Longbottom matriarch. “Lady Augusta,” I welcomed her, “I didn’t think you would make it.” I hug her and she patted my back before being under attack from Evangeline.

“Now, now, child, you know these old bones can’t take too much rattling.”

Evangeline smiled sheepishly at the elder lady. “Sorry, Lady Gusta.”

Augusta pretends to be affronted. “I thought I was your Grandmama?”

“You are! You are!”

Luna and Neville followed in soon after. “Lady Augusta. It’s good to see you here.” Greeted Luna respectfully. This woman would one day be her grandmother-in-law.

“Lady Grandmother, welcome to House Longbottom.”

“It’s good to see you both as well.” Augusta maintained her aloofness until proprieties had been observed. Then they were all hugging and really greeting each other.

I look at the fireplace that dominated the room. “Shall we?” I ask Augusta as the eldest in the room.

“We shall.”

We all feel as the wards lower to allow for Floo travel. Somewhere in the manor, a clock chimed the time. Seven o’clock on the dot. The first people start coming through.

A smile forms on my face when I notice who it was. Blonde hair and a tall redhead accompanied by a smaller blond girl standing between her parents had me hugging the trio.

“Fleur, Bill, and little Tory! My you’ve gotten so big, princess!” I kissed the little girl before moving to her parents. “It’s so good to see you all again. We have to catch up.”

Bill kissed both my cheeks and I flick his hand away when he tries to mess with the hair. “Hello, Hermione. How have you been?”

Beneath us, Evangeline and Victoire were having their own reunion. “Tory!” “Eva!” There was a fast exchange of words and gestures as the two little girls chattered away.

“Hermione. ‘Tiz zo good to zee you! Comment avez-vous éte? Et tu Evangelina?”

We move away from the Floo so the other members of the party could enter the conversation. “Lady Augusta, Neville, Luna, thank you all for having us. It’s an honor.”

“Oui.” Added Fleur.

Luna shook her head and kissed the newcomers. “The honor is ours.”

“Too true, I missed my favorite redhead.” I tease.

The sound of the Floo activating again had us turning to see who came in. “I resent that comment. I thought I was your favorite redhead Hermione.”

I smile at the view of seeing the gangly redhead under attack by his wife. “Hello, Hermione. Ignore my husband. He’s all for theatrics these days.” Said Angelina.

“Aunty Mione! Aunty Mione!”

Soon I have a handful of little boy in my hands. “Hello there little Fred. Been up to any mischief lately?”

“Yup!”

“Don’t you dare encourage him, Hermione!”

“Evangeline come greet your cousins.” I needn’t had said anything. Victoire and Evangeline were bounding back to the center of the room.

“Freddie!” Yelled Evangeline as she wrapped her arms around her male cousin.

“Eva!”

“Victoire!”

Us adults had a laugh when the little blonde calls out her own name. “It’s good to see the little ones so happy.” Commented Augusta.

“Who else is coming?” Asked Angelina.

I count them off. “Andromeda who's coming with Teddy, your in-laws, and Harry.” I think about the last-minute addition I made. “Also, heads up. I invited Draco and his son.” I add sheepishly.

“You did what?” Echoed four voices.

“Remember Monday? He’s the one that helped me. I’m just extending the olive branch!” I defended to the Weasleys.

“He’s a Malfoy.” George pointed out.

I roll my eyes. “And I’m a Granger. What’s your point?”

Bill shot a look at Neville. Not even he was brave enough to ask that to Augusta. “You’re letting her do this?”

Neville laughs. “You think I can stop her? Beside this is Hermione we’re talking about, she knows what she’s doing.”

“She’s also right here you know.” I huff.

“Hush Mione. The adults are talking.” Fleur's eyes shone with mirth.

I laugh. “You’re right I must respect you in your ripe old age of twenty-seven.” I tease. “Soon the wrinkles will come out and you’ll really be old.”

“Perish the thought! I will never look a day over twenty-two.”

The fireplace roars again and I’m stopped from meeting the floor by Bill’s arms. “Aunt Mione!”

Luna nudged me. “Aren’t you popular today Hermione?” She teased.

Angelina grumbled good-naturally. “What are we chopped liver?”

“My own mischief-making nephew ignoring me for a pretty girl!”

“Teddy let go of Hermione and greet our hosts.”

“Hello my dear Andromeda, how have you been child?”

It’s was a cacophony of voices greeting each other and children running around. Here were people that supported me through the years, people that prove that the ties of friendship can become those of a family’s.

The floo roared again and in came the lightest blonde of all with a small child in his arms. Draco smile sheepishly and Scorpius waves before hiding inside his father’s chest again. “Umm hello?”

I move to greet but Luna beats me to the punch. “It’s good to see you Draco! Is this your son? He looks so much like you. Careful with the Nargles sweetie. Neville refused to put away the mistletoe.”

Draco looked overwhelmed but it was _so_ Luna so I wave him closer. “Come on in Draco. Promise we don’t bite.”

“Speak for yourself.” Before I could reprimand George, Andromeda was hitting him in the head with her fan.

“If Hermione invited him then the least we can do is be polite. Hello Draco, my name is Andromeda, I’m your mother’s eldest sister. You can call me whatever you want.”

Draco fidgeted but Luna dragged him to the group. “Thank you for having me. It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Andromeda. This is Scorpius. He’s two. Mother also says hello.”

There was a tense second of silence before Andromeda sighs. “It’s about time we buried the hatchet, isn’t it? Tell Narcissa that she can expect an owl from me tomorrow. And please, call me Andy.”

“Of course, Aunt. Scorpius, meet you great aunt Andy and our hosts the Longbottoms plus two.”

“Hey!” Luna and I chime.

“Hello.” The little boy whispered.

Angelina clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone. Roll call. Kids get over here.”

All four children come running and stare at the boy in Draco’s arms.

“Mama, is he a new friend?”

“He’s so blonde!”

“He’s tiny.”

“I won’t be the only blonde?”

A laugh rolls through us. “Well, now we know who spends most of their time with Victoire.” Says Neville.

Another round of laughter and even Draco joined. “Guys this is Scorpius. He’s- how old is he again?” I ask Draco.

“Two,” Draco answered.

“Right. Scorpius here is two so you have to be a little gentler with him okay?” The quartet nodded. “That means not making fun of his hair. Scorpius these are our kids. The brunette with fuzz for hair – ‘Mama!’- is Evangeline, my daughter. She just turned six. The redhead is Fred and he’s three, the jealous blonde is Victoire and she’s four. The one who can’t stop changing his hair color is Teddy. He’s six and the eldest. Kids introduce yourselves before running havoc on the mansion.”

“Hi!”

“Hola!”

“Bonjour!”

“Wotcher!”

Draco put Scorpius down and before Scorpius could run back to his dad Evangeline took charge and pulled her with him. “I’ve traveled the world you know. Mama’s taken me _everywhere_!”

Neville calls out two elves to keep an eye on them. “Loly, Topsy, can you please keep an eye on them?”

“Yes. Master Neville. Loly keep a good eye on them.”

“Topsy wonders when little Master Neville order Topsy take care of Master’s babies.”

That last comment got a blush from said man. “You know things are bad if the elves are commenting on it!” Said Fleur.

“Too true.”

I meet Luna’s eyes and she looks at the clock. Half-past seven and five people were still missing from the dinner.

“I thought he’d be the first one here.”

“Bill?” I ask.

“It’s all over Britain Hermione. Your row with Harry is still fresh on people’s minds and everyone knows that this dinner is happening. If I was him I’d want to know why my best friend was pregnant with my child and didn’t tell him.”

“It’s good to have you on our side William dear. Hello Hermione.”

“Good evening Mrs. Weasley.”

* * *

**Hermione Granger and Harry Potter Have A Love Child!**

**Witch Weekly**

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you'll have heard about the new drama that popped up between the Golden Trio members, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Yes, THE Hermione Granger!

Hermione Granger disappeared from British shores six years ago and we just finding out the why.

She.

Was.

Pregnant.

And with Harry Potter's child nonetheless!

The self-proclaimed "Brightest Witch of the Century" got a bun in her oven and squirreled her way outside the country with no one none the wiser. (Then again the Longbottoms seem to know the little rascal well. Some would say too well if you catch my drift).

While rumors had swirled around her disappearance, I don't think anyone could have thought she'd actually make off with the Man-Who-conquers child. And judging by his reaction he did NOT know he had a child with the witch.

Let me repeat: Harry Potter Did Not Know he had a child. A CHILD.

Shocking. I know.

So let me recap: Hermione Granger mysteriously gets pregnant, leaves the country, and doesn't tell the father. Doesn't that make you wonder about the circumstances this baby could have happened? I mean Hermione Granger has been accused of using Love Potions to enchant men before. (Not that I'm saying she did but there wasn't an official investigation so who knows.)

We can only pray that the Gods of Old bless us with the answers we need in tonight's dinner.

Stay tuned magical readers and we'll keep you posted!

Subscribe to Witch Weekly for just...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 19, 2004

Hermione’s p.o.v

I put on my best smile and greets the newcomers. “Arthur, Molly, it’s nice to see you both again. Ron, Ginny, Harry. It’s been too long.”

Arthur looked as amiable as ever but both the Weasley women had a frown marring their face. “Hello dear. Time has done you much good.” Said Arthur walking across the room to hug me. “And thank you again, Neville, for having us.”

I return the hug. Arthur hadn’t been fazed by the sight of his Malfoy's only son. The rest of his family wasn’t so…restrained.

“What’s Malfoy doing here?” Anger was already coloring Ron’s face. His entire posture defensive, with his hand on his wand.

My back straightened. Ron was looking for a fight. Still, Neville was the one who answered him. “ _ Draco _ ,” he emphasized, “was invited. If you don’t like it you're welcome to leave Ronald.”

“We’re simply worried about the safety of our grandchildren Neville dear,” Molly answered.

My eyes cut to the Weasley matriarch. “Understandable Mrs. Weasley but your fear is unfounded. Draco is my guest and I never allow anyone dangerous to get close to my daughter.”

Augusta pinched her lips. Questioning the presence of guests in another one’s home was the height of disrespect in a Pureblood's manor. “I do not appreciate having my decisions questioned in my own home Molly.” She bowed her head at Draco. “Please forgive the slight against you. You  _ are  _ wanted here. Now, let us proceed to dinner. We are here to celebrate Hermione and Evangeline, not bring up old disputes.”

Molly’s face soured. She knew she had been wrong but that wouldn’t stop her from talking more. “If we never speak of the past the next generation won’t learn from our mistakes.”

Draco nodded. “And while I would normally agree with you Mrs. Weasley, this is still a kid’s birthday party and war talk has no place here.”

Arthur nodded in agreement. “Well said Draco. We don’t need to bring up bad blood when we are meant to be celebrating. My apologies for my son’s and wife’s rash words Madame Longbottom.”

Augusta nodded and signaled for the elves to begin setting the table before leading us to the dining room where the elves had everything set up for our party of twenty. The Weasleys and Andromeda all greeted each other but Draco, Neville, Luna, and I stayed away. The Weasleys had never been Draco’s favorite people and Luna and Neville had grown apart from them.

I walk to Draco’s side. “I’m sorry about the Weasleys, the other Weasleys.”

Draco waved my apology away. There was shame and understanding in his eyes. “It’s okay I’m used to it. I did make all your lives miserable in school and then I joined the Death Eaters. I get it.”

“You regret it and that’s what matters to us. Just like Harry was a champion for the Light you were a champion for the Dark, none of us picked our roles.” Neville argued.

“We want you here Draco. You were the only one to help Hermione after she foolishly went to Diagon by herself and did not judge her. Let us repay the favor.” Luna added after grabbing his arm and his attention.

I grab his other arm. “Look at it this way. I’m just expanding Evangeline’s circle of friends-slash-future caretakers. It’s all for my benefit.”

“Bloody Gryffindors.” There was a small smile on his lips.

“I’m a Ravenclaw.”

Draco looked at Luna. “You’re the smartest of the lot.”

“I’m offended. I’m a genius in herbology.”

“Exactly who has a double Mastery here? I have bank accounts funded solely on spell royalties."

Draco scoffed. “Please Granger, a couple of hundred Galleons have nothing on the Malfoy accounts.”

Luna scoffed playfully. “Someone’s playing their own flute. Besides Malfoy is new money compared to the Longbottoms.”

I throw a look at Luna. “You’re not even married.”

Luna smiles serenely. “Yet.”

“I am suddenly worried that you’re only marrying me for the money.”

“Took you long enough.”

“Say what now?” We laugh at Neville's 'surprised' face.

We enter the dining room and I drag Draco with me to the ‘head’ of the table. Instead of having the traditional spread on the table, the elves had placed everything buffet-style on the circular table.

I took a seat and leave two empty seats between us for the kids. Speaking of kids Evangeline was running over with Scorpius in hand. Looking at the frown on her face made me worried.

“Is everything all right Evangeline?” I ask worriedly. What if Harry -or worse  _ Ginny-  _ had gotten to her? What if Ginny dared to raise a hand to her? I tune back to Eva when she starts to speak.

“Mama we just started _ playing. Can’t dinner wait for another segundo? _ ”

Oh, Merlin. I had nearly riled myself up over nothing.  _ “That will be enough señorita. This is a dinner party, not a playdate. I understand that you want to play but now it’s time for the cena. Sit, eat properly, and I might consider letting you and your posse leave the table early.” _

_ “But Mamam!” _

_ “It’s time for dinner Evangeline. This is the second time. Eat or be sent to the time-out corner. You don’t want that in front of your friends yes?”  _ I scolded her _. _

_ “No Mama.” _

“Sit down then and mind your manners now. Lady Augusta taught them to you for a reason. And remember Evangeline, when in Rome-” I trail off for her to finish.

“Act like the Romans.” She finished.

I nod and grab a plate and start filling it. A scoff made my turn come up. It was Molly and she was looking disapprovingly at me. “Yes?”

“Must you be so harsh with the girl? She’s only what, three?”

The comment hit close to home but I let it slide. “Evangeline just turned six Molly and I’m not too harsh. I dole out the appropriate punishment and reward her with the same measure.”

“She is still a child-”

“Yes, and she is  _ my _ child.” I interrupt. I set down Evangeline’s plate and pour her and Scorpius some water while Draco cut his food into small pieces.

“She is not only yours. Does she even know who her father is?”

I smile at the Weasley matriarch. “Yes, she does Molly.”

I ignore the woman and help myself to some soup to start with. The table was full of British fare and it reminded me of simpler days. “The food looks wonderful Madame Augusta.”

Augusta smiled. “Eat up then. The elves worked all day to prepare this spread for you and Evangeline."

"Delicious as always Lady Augusta. Though hopefully next year we'll need an actual children's table." Andromeda gave Luna and Neville and meaningful look.

I hide a smile behind my napkin as Neville visibly slumps into his seat. Luna just kept smiling.

Lady Agusta tsks at Neville. "For that to happen we need a wedding." She replies. 

Neville sighs. This was a conversation the two had been having since Neville brought Luna home. "We’re waiting, grandmother. Luna just got her Mastery and I'm still an assistant professor." 

"Indeed. Waiting for me to be dead."

"Grandmother!"

Andromeda laughs. "Just put us old ladies out of our misery and marry the girl already Neville. You’ve already been engaged for two years."

Neville dropped his face into his hands. "I'm about to make it more if I don’t stop being asked."

Luna fake gasped. "You’ll make me wait even longer?"

"You're supposed to be on my side, Luna!" Neville whined.

Draco and I catch each other's eye and laughed. This was what I missed when I was abroad.

Luna giggles. "Don't worry Madam, Neville and I will get married soon. We have to take advantage that Hermione and Eva are here. Who knows we could have a double wedding!"

"Can’t have a double wedding without a second groom." George pipes in.

“Then it’s a good thing we have Keelan.” Fleur teases.

I take everything back. I glare at Fleur. "This is the last time I take you anywhere," I mumble eating a piece of bread so I wouldn't have to talk more.

"Now I'm interested. Who is this Keelan we're talking about?" Bill asks.

"Mama’s boyfriend!”

I choke. “Evangeline!”

Draco roars on laughter. “Betrayed by your own daughter Granger.” 

“You have a boyfriend?" Ginny asks with disguised glee.

“No! Keelan and I are  _ not _ dating."

“He sends her flowers, have been penpals for years, and they lived together in Zimbabwe for a few months. He's total hubby material.” Luna ticks off her fingers.

“You’ve been holding out on me Granger,” Angelica adds.

Lady Augusta and Andromeda give me a look. More than anyone else in this room those two wanted me wed, traditionalists that they were. Fleur was always happy to gossip about my nonexistent love life with George and Angelica. By week's end, they'll have figured out Keelan's entire life history.

I chug down my drink. This was going to be a long dinner.

Arthur chuckles. “I think a different topic is in order before Hermione decides to hex you all." He turns to me, "tell us about your travels then Hermione. You’ve been to many places.”

Mr. Weasley is truly a godsend. “Oh, it was wonderful Arthur! I began in Australia finding my parents…”

The remainder of the dinner passed in relative calmness and mundane topics that would be safe to discuss. I talked about my travels and the people that I had met while abroad. Luna spoke about the Quibbler and George about his business and his plans to expand.

“Lee and I were talking. The economy has stabilized now and with Hermione here we can dish out even more products.” I interjected then.

“I’m not working for you George.”

He pointed a fork at me. “Unless you want me to blow up half the Alley you’ll advise me. Besides you stole my notes last time around.”

“I didn’t steal them, I borrowed them and made some... corrections.”

George waved his fork around wildly. “That's what she says. Anyways we’re thinking France and maybe further into continental Europe. We have the connections.”

“How will you manage the new sites then?” asked Draco. “I know you have a branch in Hogsmead but that easily accessible by Floo.”

“We’re working on a new set of communication mirrors. I got the idea off the muggle video conferences, kind of like talking through a Floo, and the Marauder’s mirrors. You got the owl I sent about that right Harry?”

“Yes.” It had been one of the few words Harry had said all evening.

“There you go. We create those, make versions that we can hang on the walls, and then we have instant communications with our other branches. If things go too far south, then we have the option of international portkey.”

“But why stop there? If you make enough of them and find a way to link multiple mirrors, then it could be like the muggle phones. The goblins would invest high money into that especially with a wall mirror that could be a ‘house phone’.” Bill added.

It was a good idea. It could connect the world even closer than the new Floo. “I agree. I can ask the people I was mentoring if they would mind me sharing their notes on connecting the Floos. You might be able to use the same principles.”

Draco looked pensive until he lifted his gaze to George with a glint in his eyes. “How much money would it take to build a prototype?”

“A couple of thousands of Galleons. We need to buy the mirrors, do the rune work, test them out to see what works and what doesn’t. The hardest part would be finding a way to link multiple mirrors and then being able to add more if we want it to work as a phone as Bill said. We might even have to create a whole new network if we want the mirrors to be able to connect to others mirror.”

Arthur looked so proud of how far his son had gone. “Your idea has merit son. The new Floo those kids invented is a good way for travel but these mirrors could truly revolutionize the communication of the wizarding world.”

“But what about owls then? They’d be forced out of business.” Luna pointed out.

A whole new debate opened in the table about the implications of what such a creation would do to our current means of communication. It was exhilarating discussing new ideas and my brain was kicked into rive with the intellectual material and just the possibilities.

Lady Gusta, Andromeda, and the kids kept their own conversation and threw in a couple of words now and then to the discussion. The only ones that didn’t participate were Ron who kept inhaling food, Ginny who tried to steer the conversation towards Quidditch, Harry who kept silent, and Molly who kept a disapproving eye on it all.

My own Floo started vibrating in my pocket. I look at Augusta for permission. “Forgive me Augusta. I need to take this.”

“Don’t worry Hermione. Dinner is done either way.”

I nod at her and step outside the dining room to take my call.

\---

I close the compact and end the call. Nothing could make me change my mind and make me go back to Germany for some years to come. I pocket the Floo and step back into the room.

“-I hate you! You have no right to talk about Mama like that! She’s done things for me that no other Mama would have done! She’s traveled all over – she’s the b-best M-m-mama I c-could-ld wi-sh f-for!”

“EVANGELINE!” I catch her before the tremors could send her to the floor. She was trembling tremendously and the seizures were starting to get control of her body. “Luna the bracelet! Evangeline, Evangeline look at me. Look at me, baby.” I grab her head and hold it in place until her eyes could find mine. “You need to relax baby."

Her eyes roamed around blankly, a sign that her condition was getting worse. "Look at me, baby. You need to relax. It’s fine. Everything is fine but mama just needs you to calm down okay? Mama needs you to relax.”

I rake her hair with my fingers and keep focused on her even as Neville drops next to me and Luna snaps Evangeline’s bracelet into place. The tremors were becoming weaker and that meant the episode was slowing down even if the tremors weren’t gone. “Breath princess. Breath.”

It was a tense ten minutes of waiting for the seizure to finally stop. An elf hands me the muscle relaxants Evangeline had been prescribed and I make her drink it. “I’ll take her to bed.” Volunteered Neville.

She’s fine. She’sfine. Shesfine.

I nod to him and let him pick her up. He didn’t say a word but to guide the elves to excuse the guests for the night. I hadn’t even noticed they weren’t in the room.

I accept Luna’s handkerchief and stand up. “Luna, what happened? Why was Evangeline having a seizure?”

Mount molly erupted in earnest. “The better question is what is wrong with that child? How could you let her magic control her like that? That is an obvious sign of neglect and bad parenting. I do not understand how you could let her behave this way!”

I pin my eyes on Molly. “Don’t you dare tell me how to raise my child Molly much less speak of her that way! She is a child and I will not allow you to speak badly about her."

“I am looking out for her welfare-”

“Her welfare is not yours to look after!”

“How dare you say that? I treated you like a daughter, welcomed you into my home, and put you on the path to be a respectable witch.”

“I did not need a mother. I had two loving parents who supported me in all my endeavors and who didn’t look down on me for not fitting into their expectations of what I should be. For the last time, Molly, keep to your own cauldron!”

It was a stony silence that lingered in the room. I finally noticed that out of the original dinner guests, only those without young children and Luna were still in the room with me. There was no way I was leaving without revealing some of my darkest truths. “Hermione, what is wrong with my daughter?”

“Harry there is no proof-” A look from Harry cut Ginny off.

“She suffers from seizures,” I answer, not daring look at him, “it’s an after effect of the Cruciatus curse.”

Mount Molly was on a rampage. “I knew it! I told you that she is a bad mother! How could you let your daughter get hit with an Unforgivable?”

Luna wraps her arm around me. “It wasn't by choice Molly. Death Eaters caught up to us in Australia.”

“When did you find out?” I let my eyes drift to the side. “Damn it Hermione I deserve to know!”

“A couple of days after the final battle." I force my eyes to meet his pleading for him to understand. "I meant to tell you but—.” I was a coward. I didn’t want to face the consequences. I was afraid of your reaction. There were a thousand and one reasons why I kept my mouth shut six years ago.

“Why? Why would take away the last family that I had?” The pain in his voice tore open old wounds and it was all I could to not throw myself into his arms.

“How could I tell the man that lost everything to the war that he was the father of a baby that could die at any moment?” I cry. “You lost everything Harry, everything and everyone. How could I tell you that you could lose the only remaining family that you had? You were my  _ best friend _ , Harry. I couldn’t do that to you. I loved you too much to hurt you again.

“I was a coward. When you told me that you wanted nothing to do with that night my first emotion was happiness! I wouldn’t have to destroy your world and you could keep on living your life even if it destroyed my soul. I didn’t fight your decision, if Evangeline had died it would have been a secret I would take to the grave. I should have and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The tears started falling and I let Luna hold me as I became undone under the weight of my regret. I took a child from their father and made him miss all the important moments. All those missing years that he couldn’t hope to recover.

“You should have been there. You should have been there when we welcomed her into the world. I wanted you to be there so badly but it all happened so fast and I didn’t have the strength to make a Patronus.”

“He did know. Or at least knew that you needed him.”

My breathing stopped in its tracks. My eyes reluctantly go to Neville’s. “No.”

Neville didn’t meet my eyes but instead looked at where Harry was standing. “August nineteenth. I found out later that he was at a quidditch game.” With each word, Harry’s face was losing its color. Beside me, Luna tightened her hold. 

_ No. _

“My Patronus gave him the message and a Portkey. I told him you needed him. He never answered.”

Reality crumbled beneath my feet. “Tell me it isn’t true,” I beg harry.

Harry look horrified. “I didn’t – I didn’t  _ know _ .”

_ Wasn’t I important enough? _

Tears start to fall. “I needed you. I needed you and you weren’t there.”

_ “I didn’t know.” _

My magic unleashed my fury on the room. Paintings trembled and vases fell to the floor. “I was there. Every single time that you needed me I was there and the one time I needed you, you couldn’t return the favor because you could never stop thinking about Harry Potter and what Harry Potter wanted.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so,  _ sorry. _ ”

“I don’t need your apologies, I needed you to be there. But you didn’t because it wasn’t convenient for the fucking Boy-Who-Lived, because, after all, that I sacrificed for you, I would never amount to anything in your eyes.”

My tears had ended but Harry's had just started. All these years thinking that if only he had known, that if he had even the tiniest of inklings, he would have been there…

It was for nothing. It was all for nothing.

“Merlin please, Hermione you have to forgive me,  _ please _ . I was young and stupid. I didn’t appreciate what I had and took it all for granted, took you for granted. I should have gone to you and faced my responsibilities. You made your choice out of love for me, I made mine out of selfishness and that’s the worst thing I could have done and I’m so sorry.”

Any other moment before now would have had me wrapping my arms around him but now I could just look at him with contempt. “You don’t get to play the youth card, Harry. I was young when I entered the magical world and keeping you alive became my priority, I was young when I sacrificed everything for you, I was young when I fought a war but I grew up. I didn’t have the option to ignore my responsibility-”

Ginny cut me off. “Stop trying to blame him. Stop trying to make this about you. You chose to run away; you chose not to tell him. He didn’t know! It was war, we all had to make sacrifices to survive. You could have told him that you were pregnant but instead, you hide like a coward.”

Luna’s p.o.v

My hand connected solidly with Ginny’s cheek. “If you ever call Hermione a coward again Ginny I will make you regret ever landing an eye on her. Harry disregarded her long before the war started even when she continued to go back to him. Harry might not have known but that doesn’t excuse his behavior when he was told that she needed him.

"What were you and your family doing? Enjoying the spoils from the war. Not once did any of you think about her. Not once did  _ he _ think about her. So, don’t you fucking blame Hermione for your blatant disregard.”

I let her face go making sure to leave nail marks on that face that she put so much worth on. I was ready for this dinner to end but as I see the figure standing in the doorway, I knew at least one part of the evening would turn all right.

“Hello, Keelan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just to clarify a little bit. The floo Hermione uses to take the call is just a miniature floo. She still has to put her face in a fire to call people. The communication mirrors the twins are working on would work more like modern phones. Think landline (that you can travel through) versus a wireless phone.
> 
> A/N2: Don't forget to review.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 19, 2004

Neville’s p.o.v

All eyes turned to Keelan. The tall African man was late but it was expected with International Floo travel. “Seems like I made it just in time, yes?” Came the booming voice.

Keelan's eyes glanced around the room before zoning in on Hermione. He was wearing wizard robes with Zimbabwean runes woven onto his traveling cloak. Said cloak which he removed to wrap her in his arms.

"You're not allowed to travel without me Anaishe, you get into too much trouble."

Hermione wipes her tears and hugs the wizard back. " _ Keelan _ ."

She says his name as both a question and a prayer. He ignored the rest of the room as he swept Hemione out and was guided by a House Elf to her bedroom and a calming draught.

Seeing the woman who was practically my sister leave the room looking so catatonic broke my heart. There had been many things I had kept quiet on, and seeing Hermione's face like that told me I'd made the right choice all those years ago. But now it was the time some of those secrets were shared. 

When I can't see them anymore I turn furious to face the Weasleys and Harry. "Tell me. How does it feel to destroy your best friend?"

"It's not his fault." Ginny hisses.

Luna glares at her former best friend. "You're right, it's both their fault. But abandoning your best friend over a  _ Quidditch game _ ? That was all him." She answers. 

Sobs wrack his body. "I didn't know," Harry whispers but I heard him. I always heard him and had to deal with the consequences.

"You didn't have to know Harry. You just needed to be there! All you had to do was care."

Ron exploded. “Nobody told her to open her legs like a whore! She said she loved me but the minute I was gone she went and jumped my best friend!”

My body coils and I launch myself at the red-headed bastard. I bring my fist down on his face. “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT HERMIONE THAT WAY!"

“Neville!” A pair of arms try to drag me off him but I fight them off and keep pummeling his face in. 

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THE SHIT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. EVANGELINE DIDN'T MAKE IT INTO THIS WORLD. HERMIONE ALMOST BLEED OUT ON THE TABLE. BUT YOU COULDN'T BE FUCKING BOTHERED TO COME TO HER SIDE WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU!”

A second pair of arms grab my waist and pull me off the redhead. “Neville stop!”

I shake off the Weasley patriarch's arms and glared at the youngest Weasley male. “You don’t get the fucking right to judge her. You didn’t have the balls to be there.”

Luna’s eyes were stuck on me. “What do you mean Evangeline didn’t make it into the world?” she asked.

It takes me a moment to process what she said. I pale at her words. “You can’t tell Hermione.”

If anything the faces around the room became even paler. “Neville. Are you trying to tell me that Evangeline isn’t Hermione’s daughter?” Luna asks as if she's afraid Hermione could hear us.

“The umbilical cord." I try to shake my head away from the bad memories. "It became tangled around Evangeline’s neck. The healers had to revive her.”

Luna swayed on her feet and leaned against the wall. Tonight had not been good to anyone. “What else haven’t you told us?”

Too many things you didn't need to be burdened with. “Hermione almost bleed out. We nearly lost them both that day. After the doctors diagnosed her with postpartum depression the doctors I decided not to tell her. The Grangers don’t know either.”

“Why keep it a secret? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“What good would it have made? They were both fine-”

“She wasn’t fine Neville. Hermione almost killed herself!”

My eyes hardened at that. “I know, I was there.”

Luna's face scrunches in pain. I was the one to find Hermione pointing the wand at herself. “I-I’m sorry Neville.”

“A suicidal woman being a mother. Tell me, in what world did anyone think that was a good idea?”

“In the world, Molly, where the woman has the best, goddamned support system in the world.” I snap. “Hermione had her parents, had her friends, and most importantly had a reason to live for in her daughter. She would have had more if the famed Weasley family matriarch had stuck her head out of her arse.”

“Who didn’t know that Hermione was pregnant?” Harry asked tiredly. He looked pitiful standing alone even while surrounded by the Weasleys. His world had been shattered into pieces since Hermione arrived but I didn't have time for his precious feelings. I was too busy dealing with a broken woman closer to home.

"George spent a year in Australia. Fleur and Bill, we contacted them for help with Eva's medical needs. Andromeda found out by accident." Grandmother answers calmy after reentering the room.

Luna and I bow to my regent. "Lady grandmother." I greet. "Did all our guests leave?"

She nodded. "They did. I thought I should see how discussions were moving now that Keelan removed Hermione from the situation."

Harry was looking devastated. "Why did no one tell me? If Evangeline is my daughter, I had a right to know."

“ _ If  _ she's your daughter? Do you think we would lie about her parentage? To you? For what? Money?" I completely snap. "You want to know why? Because Evangeline couldn’t survive in England. St. Mungo’s wasn’t equipped to deal with a case like Evangeline so Hermione,  _ her mother _ , took her around the world in hopes of finding a cure.

“You think you’re the only one that’s hurt? Do you know how hard it was to hold my best friend as the doctors tell her she can’t hold her own child? How do you think Luna felt when she realized that Hermione didn’t consider her important enough to live? We watched over her as she burned herself trying to pull herself together and dealing with your rejections. She’s still battling PTSD and depression, she punished herself with NEWTS and a Mastery to repent for the pain she caused her daughter. Even now she’s still a shell of her former self. You lost a daughter but we lost the woman.”

I dig my nails into my palms before I did something I would not regret. “Get out of my house Potter. And if you try to claim Evangeline’s custody I swear to you that I will kill you for trying to destroy my family.”

The Weasleys looked ready to protest but a dark glance from Arthur kept them all quiet. Harry picked himself from the floor and he tries to meet my eyes but I refuse to. “She was everything to me you know?”

“Then do the right thing for once in your life and leave her alone.”

Bill’s p.o.v

Dad dragged the four of them out of the Floo. George and I had decided to speak with Harry in a place he wouldn't feel trapped in. "You ready for this Bill?” George asked.

“Not at all.”

With a dim grin, George started walking into the living room. Mum was furious and was only building her anger. “After everything we’ve done for her. Raised her like she was our daughter into a proper and pure witch. To betray us like this and turn those honorable families against us. Poor Madame Longbottom! Not only is she going to be saddled with a granddaughter-in-law like the Lovegood girl but to be in that ungrateful girl’s clutches. Oh, Arthur, we must do something! If only Dumbledore was here, he would make them see reason!”

“And what of Hermione mum? She had to go through the struggle of raising a child on her own while maintaining her own successful career and making a name out of herself in the world.” I point out.

Ginny answered for her. “She should have stayed home. Own up to her actions instead of galivanting the world. That’s what a proper witch would have done.”

George snorted. “And you would have accepted that little sis? I find that so hard to believe.”

Mum turned on George. “You shut up! How dare you know and not tell us? You, who are our blood and family, picked another person above us? And you still defend her? That scarlet woman who broke poor Harry’s and Ronald’s heart? What proof is there that that brat is even Harry’s huh!”

“Her name," I say, "is  _ Evangeline _ . And aside from being the right age and the color of her eye, there’s also the fact that I personally conducted a paternity test at St. Mungo’s and in the Muggle world. Harry is the father, mum.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re defending her!” Ron roared.

“Because if it had been Ginny in the situation we would have done the same! Hermione was hurting, she was looking for a reason to keep on living and she found it in her daughter and making her healthy. Did you think her trips around the world were for nothing? There’s a reason her entire life isn’t displayed all over the newspaper unlike you who can’t keep your dick in one bird!” Snapped George.

I look at my family. "Yes, Hermione fucked up but for Merlin's sake don't pretend none of us haven't either.  _ We left her."  _ I stress. "When she needed us none of us were there for her. What the hell was she supposed to do when everyone turned their backs on her? Harry had just told her that he wanted nothing to do with that night.”

Harry’s eyes pinned me down. “How the bloody hell was I supposed to know that the one time I shagged my best friend she would get pregnant? It was an accident! It was never meant to happen!”

“You’re right Harry. You’re the hurt one here not her. She probably tempted you into this knowing people would turn against you but I’ll always stand with you.”

Never in my life had I wanted to raise my wand against my own sister. “It takes two to tango Ginny, whether he likes it or not he’s Evangeline father.”

Mum slammed her hands on the table. “What are you suggesting William? That he takes responsibility for the child? Because we will. Hermione has only proven her incompetence as a mother repeatedly.”

“You want to take a child away from its mother!” George argued.

“She took my daughter away from me!”

Flesh hits flesh. The Burrow had never been more silent. Harry’s glasses had fallen from the impact and he stared surprised at dad. Dad’s face was covered in rage, his hand still hovering in the air where it had impacted Harry.

“Arthur!” Came mum’s shrill scream.

“Do you know why I slapped you, Harry?” Came dad’s flat voice.

Harry shook his head in denial. It was all he could do in the face of the shock we were all facing. No one, not even the twins, had warranted a physical blow from the Weasley patriarch.

“I slapped you because James can’t, Remus can’t. Because even Sirius, with his womanizer and devil-may-care attitude, would have done so. Your mother is looking at you right now and can’t help but be ashamed.”

“Dad-”

“That’s enough Ginny. You will not speak a word, none of you will until I am done, understood?” We all nodded dumbly.

“You’re turning your back on the one person in this entire world who stood by you, fought a war for you. Not even Dumbledore or we can say that, and yet you wish to inflict more harm on her? Yes, she should have told you but would how would have you reacted? After the war, you and Ron jumped from bed to bed sleeping around like the scarlet women Molly goes on about. Sirius would be ashamed to know what you have become. A boy that lives of his fame and money? He couldn’t have cared less but the person that you are now, throwing people away and turning your back on your friends?  _ I’m _ disgusted.

“Even before the war was over, you and Ronald pushed her aside. Instead of consoling her or trying to make her see reason, you took the coward’s way out and stayed out of the problem as if it would magically disappear. That was Sixth Year when you were supposed to have matured! Obviously, I was wrong. Just like Ron did with Hermione you did with Ginny. I didn’t stop you hoping you would have learned and let her move on but that is nothing compared to what you did to Hermione.

“You abandoned her. In her time of need -I don’t care if you didn’t know!- you left her alone. You put your needs before hers and never once did you ask her if she was okay, did you? Not once in the month after the war did you look twice at her.” Dad took a deep breath and I knew then that he was blaming himself as well. Harry has been in our home since his second year but dad was still not able to present gentlemanly behavior.

“I blame myself.” Nailed it, unfortunately. “I should have spoken up before this and set you all straight, instead I stuck my head down and hope it would all wash away. It didn’t and now I have to deal with the consequences. This family owes many debts to Hermione Granger. She saved Ginny’s life, she changed the way people view of Bill and is the reason any of us are here right now because if she had failed Harry and he’d died then we would have been the first on Voldemort’s list.

Dad faced Harry again. “Hermione gave your godson a chance to have the world view him for who he is instead of what he could be. I will give you two options. Acknowledge Evangeline as your heir and daughter-”

Mum and Ginny both look aghast. “NO!”

“-or walk out that door and never look back. I will refuse to recognize any ties you have with this family and make you a persona non grata in this House.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 19, 2004

Harry’s p.o.v

The silence of the Burrow washed over me. I’d finally done it, turn the last people who were with me against me. I don’t meet any of their eyes as I bend down and pick up my glasses. For Merlin's sake,  _ I had a daughter. _

That sentence had been in my head since Gringotts. There was a small human out there that shared my blood. Why was no one more worried about this? Who the hell thought it would be a good idea for me to reproduce? Did no one ever think that I might have wanted to meet her?

~~**_ You'll kill her like you killed everyone else that ever loved you. _ ** ~~

I was at a crossroads: accept responsibility for my daughter -  _ my daughter _ \- or turn away from something that should have never been a problem. What did I want? What did ‘Just Harry’ want?

_ i want her to love me _

My chest tightens. Air becomes harder to pull in. I realized I wasn’t breathing. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t think.

_ why was no one helping me? _

I don't give any indication that there was something wrong. I don’t look back and apparate away from everything.

What did ‘Just Harry’ want?

When had anyone asked me that question? When had I stopped being ‘Just Harry’ and became the Aurors’ poster boy? The face of every magazine? The golden standard everyone measured themselves with? When did Harry become the Boy-Who-Lived?

~~**_ Who wants Harry when they could have the Boy-Who-Lived? _ ** ~~

There was a pain in my chest that dredged up all the darkness in me. The weight of it pulled me down and the world moved more fluidly as saline tears made their journey down my cheeks. The darkness threatened to consume me and I was tempted to let it happen but if I did then I would have done what  _ it _ wanted.

I was tired of playing the marionette for others to puppet with.

My body moves off the steps of Grimmauld and basks in the last rays of warmth the sun offered. My feet took me nowhere until my eyes told my brain to stop. There was a park around me. Families were enjoying the last of the summer and couples spending time together. They were  _ living  _ not just going through the  _ motions _ .

In the periphery of my eye, there was movement, and years of Seeker training had me catching the paper before it could fly away. I search for the owner but there I was the only one not enjoying the park life.

_ Pain is subjective. The past does not define us. Our hurdles don’t deter us. Help is here. You just have to reach out. -London Mental Health Clinic. _

_ Dr. Leila McDouglas. _

_ XXX-XXX-XXXX. _

My mind froze the raced overtime. I knew I needed help, had seen too many cases of people whose minds were twisted because they had not received the help that they needed in my time as an Auror.

‘It’s only a few blocks from Grimmauld.’ A voice tried to convince me. ‘One session and we’re done. One session.’

~~**_ Too broken. Won't help. You're just a FaiLUrE _ ** ~~

‘ _ One session _ .’ I told myself. I wouldn’t need more than that.

The moment I stepped into the lobby the sense of dread was replaced by tranquility. “Good evening sir. We’re about to close right now but you’re welcome to come back tomorrow-”

“I don’t want to be a puppet.”

The secretary looked torn between sympathetic and bewildered at me but couldn’t get a word out. A woman’s voice rang out instead.

“I’ll take the patient Ruth.” The woman’s black eyes meet mine and she extended out her hand. “My name is Dr. Leila McDouglass. Let’s get those strings off you okay?”

Bill’s p.o.v

Ginny screams as soon as we hear at the crack of apparition. It shakes me to the core and I catch her before she meets the floor. Mom fell back into a chair. I pet Ginny’s hair even as she trashes in my arms.

“He left me, mum. He left me. Mum!  _ MUM _ !”

But she was my little sister even if she could be selfish and a little self-centered. As stupid as it was, Ginny had made her entire life around his and now he was gone.  _ Again.  _ For the second time in his life, Harry had ruined another woman’s life. 

I held Ginny tighter to tell her with my body what I couldn’t with my words. Mum wasn’t listening to her, too lost in her own shock and disbelief to hear the distress calls of her daughter. Even dad seemed surprised that Harry didn’t just roll over but left instead.

“He abandoned us? He abandoned us again? He’s no better than that whore Hermione is. Traitors the both of them.” Ron spat out.

“Ronald Weasley I did not raise you like that!”

Ron glared at dad with so much hate in I recoiled. “Obviously, you didn’t, you weren’t here,” my eyes widen and Ginny stopped screaming long enough to stare at our brother, “otherwise you wouldn’t be surprised at them.” Ron turned on his heel and headed for the door. “I’m leaving. Don’t wait up.” The door closed with a resounding snap after him.

We stared surprised at the spot Ron had previously occupied. For Merlin’s sake, had our little brother just said that?

“I-I’ll go after him.” George volunteered.

Dad shook his head. “No, just no. Ronald is a man now, George. He either learns to communicate as one or he can act like a petulant boy. But we will not humor him. We have done enough damage to this family as it is.”

“Dad. Daddy. You can’t- you can’t mean that can you? W-what you said to Harry…you're not - you can't!" Ginny begged our father.

Dad turned back to Ginny who was still in my arms. “I meant every word that I said, Ginevra. If Harry is stupid enough to think that I will change my mind then he has another thing coming.”

“But dad! Think about our careers. Think about what this would do to our family. We’ll be ruined.” Ginny cried and more tears fell down her face, whether at the prospect of losing her status or her popularity, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“We’ve been ‘ruined’ before Ginevra.” Dad gave her a hard look. “There are more important things in this family than our social standing. Setting this family straight is the first one.”

Mum sparked out of her spunk. She had been one of the more benefitted from our status as war heroes. Even if she didn’t mingle with the upper class she still walked down Diagon with more confidence in her strut. All of her children had taken action to put an end to the war and her daughter was the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived. Life could not much better than that aside from an increase in our vaults. She stood to have the most to lose. “Arthur. We would lose everything we’ve gained Everything that we worked so hard for-”

“You married me in my poverty. Would you turn your back on me now Molly?”

“Of, course not! I would never care about how much money we have-” Mum tried to vehemently deny it but I knew there was a spark in her eyes now that Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes was a success with the masses.

“Then you should be happy that I expelled the blemish from our family. Our family will no longer associate with a man who is known to have sexual escapades just for the hell of it and almost ruined the life of a witch.” At mum’s look, dad glared at her. “I do not care what you think Molly. Hermione is a respectable girl and even if she wasn’t no woman deserves to be treated that way. What does it say about us if we support a man who turned his back on a woman that needed him?”

Mum blew her top. “He protected all of Great Britain! When we needed him Harry was there for us and you’ve turned him away!”

“Then tell me why he could save an entire  _ country _ who had turned his back on him but not the only person that hadn’t!”

“My career. No one will take me seriously if I couldn’t even keep one man.”

George's hands clenched and I shoot him a look before he can do something stupid. “Then I suppose you can finally put those rumors that you used Harry’s fame to get your spot with the Harpies. You’re an amazing player Ginny, you don’t need a man to prove it.”

“You're taking her side." Ginny sneers. "She's ruined everything we've worked worth and you're supporting  _ her _ .”

“And you’re taking out your jealousy on her because she’s taking your ‘spot.’” He shoots back. "Admit it, Ginny, you just wanted to be Mrs. Harry Potter, have all the fame and wealth that came with the name. To be the only woman that was associated with the name but now Hermione is back and you’re afraid that she’ll take your place. Hermione just wanted to move on with her life but thanks to you their lives have just descended into another type of hell. I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

I watch George storm out of the house letting the door slam shut behind him. Ginny’s tears weren't as desperate now so I let the arms fall from her even as she burrows deeper into me.

“This family will not contact Harry Potter anymore. Bill, I cannot tell you nor your brothers what to do but know that you will lose the protection of House Weasley if you do. He may be a partner for your brother any more than that and I will not hesitate to cut any of you off. Share that with your brothers.”

“Yes, Father.”

I move Ginny off my lap and bow to my head of the family. “I will see you later Father.” I also bow my head to mum but hightail out as soon as I can.

I had only just appeared when Fleur threw the door open and dragged me inside the house. I was pushed into the couch and she vanished my cloak before pressing a cup of tea into my hands and giving me a hard look. “Talk.”

When you’re Veela's wife ordered you to jump you said how high. “Harry’s fucked. Dad gave him to option between Evangeline and the family or his pride. The bastard walked.”

Not gasping like other women would have done, Fleur was built of sterner stuff than that. Fleur’s posture took on the haughty look it possessed when she was a champion in the Tournament multiplied by ten. “How did the Weasleys react.”

I cringe at the memory of Ron’s reaction and Ginny’s wails. “Not good.”

“I told you, didn’t I?” Fleur’s eyes burned brightly as they pinned me to my seat. “I told you years ago that something was wrong. But you didn’t listen and we almost found out too late.”

I look down in shame. My wife had been telling me for months that something was wrong with Hermione and I didn’t listen. It had led to arguments that didn’t leave until I acquiesced. “I’m sorry Fleur.”

She kissed me in forgiveness and settled next to me. “It is in the past but next time listen to me as I listen to you.”

“I promise to forever take your words into consideration.”

“That’s all I can ask. What do you think is going to happen next?” She asked me.

I sigh and gulp down the energizing drink. “I don’t know but Evangeline deserves to know her father.”

“We cannot force Hermione.” It was a couple of minutes of silence between us.

Fleur breaks the silence. “Hermione needs help. She has not dealt with her problems.” She states.

“I know.”

“How do we get her that help?”

“That I don’t know.”

George's p.o.v

When I apparated in front of my house Angelina was waiting for me in the sitting room. “What took you so long?” She asked.

I give her the rundown version of tonight’s event. “Dad made Harry persona non grata for House Weasley. He refused to acknowledge Evangeline as his heir and simply walked out of the Burrow. Ginny went into hysterics and she and mum tried to make dad reconsider but dad isn’t budging.”

Angelina’s hand went to her mouth. “You’re not serious. He’s a heavy investor in the shop. You can’t simply cut him off like that without serious repercussions both economically and publicly. He’s still the Boy-Who-Lived.”

I shrug my coat off and sit on the couch. Angelina sat with me and held my hand as the night crashed on me. She held me up after Fred’s death and vowed to be there for all time in our wedding vows. I promised to move the earth and the skies for my wife.

“He'll probably address that after he's had some sleep but Merlin. This night really went to hell didn’t it?” I press my lips to Angelina’s breastbone and put my head on the crook of her neck.

“Evangeline had an episode in front of us, George. That was the first sign that it had all gone to hell. The question is what will happen now?”

Ron’s p.o.v

I slam the cup down and signal the bartender for another one. The man filled it up again and I throw money on the bar to keep the drinks going. It was a constant stream of alcohol that went down my throat, enough to make me ignore the women that threw themselves at me but not the sense of betrayal that was rooted in my chest.

“Fuck ‘like my sister’ you traitorous bastard. You were shagging her behind my back the whole time and then had the effing balls to lie to my face.” I mutter under my breath before throwing another one back.

A woman slid into the seat next to mine and pushes a drink in my direction. “Not interested.” I throw to the bitch. She would end up betraying me and using me to get to Harry’s pale arse.

The woman pushed the cup more insistently at me and smiles. “I insist. From a famous figure to another.”

Rolling my eyes, I down the shot and turn to the woman. “So, Mr. Weasley why don’t I help you unload some of the stuff off your chest?” The woman’s body was hidden in the shadows like everyone else was, it being one of the seedier bars in town. It was muggle but wizards popped in every now and then.

I nod at the woman and open my mouth to talk. I attribute the music to the scratching sound behind her.

Luna’s p.o.v

It almost hurts to see how much love Keelan’s eyes held for Hermione. The tall African man was in love with the brunette but he knew she wasn’t ready for anything more than friendship between them. The way his calloused hand traced her cheek comfortingly touched something in my heart and I almost melted at the sight. Neville loved me but Keelan looked at Hermione like she was a glass doll for him to care for.

He placed a chaste kiss on Hermione’s cheek and went to the other room to bring Evangeline in. She was the only one capable of bringing Hermione back to her senses. Keelan was a man I trusted with our lives, having had questioned him under full truth serum. Perhaps it had been overkill but when he had gotten so close to Hermione, it became a necessity. There wasn’t a risk we wouldn’t neutralize for the Granger girls.

Keelan came back with Eva in his arms and I pull back the covers so that he can place her next to her mother where they would wake up next to each other’s presence.

“Thank you, Keelan, for everything.”

His voice came out deep with a velvet undertone. “You have nothing to be grateful for Luna. But I will start charging the next person to say those words to me.”

I let a smile bloom on my face and shake my head in suppressed laughter. “You’re too good for us.”

“No, that’s Evangeline. She’s too good for everyone. Did Hermione show you the pictures of the last party they went to?”

I shook my head and Keelan rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a photograph that he enlarged and handed to me.

It was Hermione seating on grass in a deep blue dress that was spread around her. Evangeline was sitting in her mother’s lap with her own dress looking adoringly at her mother. The reel kept playing and the Granger girls turned to look at the camera and smiled. They looked like royalty with Hermione’s intricate lacework and jewels dripping from her neck, ears, and even her hair which had been pinned back by the jewels. Evangeline was pressed close to her mother and adorably covered her mother’s hands in front of her with her own. They looked like royalty.

“This is beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?” Keelan agreed. “They’ll release the picture in the next cover of the Charms Journal. It’ll feature Hermione and her accomplishment so far.”

“I want a copy.” Was all I could say. Hermione looked so healthy, so happy. I wanted to bring that feeling back to her, to finally put everything behinds us and help her get better again. “I want to give her back that happiness.”

The Hermione in the picture was so full of happiness and it showed. But it wasn’t real and it took so long – too long to put that fake smile on her face. I can still see the tiredness in her eyes and the despair that never truly left her. “How do we do it? How do we bring that happiness back?” I ask Keelan.

Keelan sat on the bed and sighed. “We can’t. She has to want it herself.”

“We’re taking her to a therapist if we have to drag her ourselves.” I look at Neville and he pressed a kiss to my temple.

“It won’t work if we force her. Trust me it’ll just make things worse.”

“Then what do we do?”

“What can Evangeline do is the better question. If Hermione pulled herself together for her daughter, it’s because of Evangeline that will push her to glue herself up.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 20, 2004

Hermione's p.o.v

I try to burrow deeper into my blanket but a weight on top wouldn't let me. It pressed hard against me preventing me from moving. Frowning I push the thing away and hear a loud thud. I'm up and pointing my wand at the offending thing.

"Who's there!"

A groan came from somewhere beneath me. "Damn it, Hermione. If you didn't want to cuddle you should've just said so, not fucking pushed me off the bed!"

It took me a couple of seconds to place the voice and to realize that my wand was actually a finger. "Luna?"

"No, the Lochness monster." The snide voice replied.

"Keep it down you two. Some people are trying to sleep here."

I turn my body to the right. "Keelan?"

A huge arm grabbed me and pulled me back to bed. "Go back to sleep Hermione."

A sleepy hand threw a blanket on my face. "Thank you, Keelan."

"Neville?"

"Go to sleep Hermione!" All three adult voices say.

"Mama I'm hungry."

Now it was four voices groaning. I didn't know how badly I wanted to go back to sleep until the option wasn't available anymore.

"Guess we're all getting up. Topsy!" Neville called out.

Said elf popped into existence. "Yes, Mater Neville?"

"Could you feed Evangeline, please? Thank you." Neville asked.

"Of course, Master Neville. Come along little Miss, Topsy be taking good care of you." Evangeline went with Topsy and all was quiet in the room again.

The four of us remained on the bed like that. It was Luna, me, Keelan, and Neville. We were all awake now so there was no use to go back to sleep.

"Hermione last night-"

Would you look at that? It seems I would be going back to sleep. "Neville, I love you but I start teaching in two weeks and I would appreciate getting all the sleep I can now." I nestled back into the comforter and ignore the three breathing bodies with me.

Luna sighs. "Sleeping won't solve this Hermione. We need to talk about last night."

I stare at her through the fabric of the comforter. Everything was better under the sheets where the real world couldn't touch me till I left their embrace. "Sleep won't solve my problems but it'll delay them for a while more."

"Hermione." This time it came from Neville.

"I'm tired," I tell them. "Tired of the fights, the tears, the _arguments_."

"We made our bed Hermione, it's time to lie on it."

I rip the comforter away and snarl at Luna. "What about Harry huh?! Isn't he going to lie on his?"

"We hid his child!"

"He gave up on us!"

Arms wrap themselves around me. "Enough," said Keelan, "it's not you against each other. It's us - all of us - against the problem."

For a moment we were all quiet. This had been an argument that propped up every couple of months and we were never near a resolution. Now it seems we have no choice.

"I'm not letting Harry take away my daughter," I say.

"Because that is so much different than you taking her away from him," Luna replies.

"You know my story, you know what situation I was in-"

Keelan cut me off. "That is no excuse Hermione and you know it. He should have had the chance of participating in his daughter's life - even with the off chance that you would lose her. It was his right as the father."

Not even looking at him I leave the bed. "I'm done. It's too early for me to be doing this."

But Keelan grabbed my hand. "You know we're telling the truth. You took away the only family that boy had and hid it from him. He decided to give you up. Please Hermione, at least acknowledge what you did; you made a mistake, you _both_ did. ."

I look at my siblings and hiss. "You're supposed to be on my side."

Keelan shook his head. "Not when you're like this."

"You're asking me to allow my daughter near a man that could care less about her wellbeing." I explode.

"What we're asking you is to let Evangeline make her own decision and to get help." Luna snaps.

"I don't need help," I answered rapidly. "I'm fine."

"Fine doesn't mean waking up in the middle of the night in terror. It doesn't mean that your first reaction to a crowd is to whip your wand out. If you were fine Hermione you would look at Andromeda without flinching every time."

"That's too bad. This is the best that you're going to get." I get out of Keelan's grasp and lock myself in the bathroom. 

When I came out of the shower, the room had been set to rights. Seeing the coast clear, I collapse on my vanity chair and let my head fall into my hands. I did not need help. All the symptoms they described wer natural reactions after muddling through a war. If they increased it was because of those damned German blood purists. If the bastards hadn't tried to attack us…

Soft muted footsteps walked towards me and I felt tiny hands grabbing my face. "Are you okay Mama?"

I look into the sad eyes of my baby. "Oh darling, Mama's she's just a bit tired from last night."

A small hand landed on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Mama. I didn't mean to ruin your night! But she was saying so many bad things about you and I couldn't let her! I'm so sorry I lost control Mama."

Wrapping my arms around the love of my life I hold her tightly. "Shush baby. There's nothing for you to apologize for. You were trying to protect me just like I would have done if anyone said anything about you. I forgive you Sunshine."

Tears landed on my shoulder and I felt like the biggest failure on Earth. I could solve the world's problem but I made my daughter cry. Nononono. "Shush now little one. Mama's here. Mama's here."

"I want to go home." She whimpers into my embrace. "I want Mama to be Mama again."

"W-what?"

"Evangeline wants the Mama that used to laugh and be bossy. Evangeline wants the old Hermione back."

That was a slap to the face. So much innocence behind that one sentence that cut straight to my heart. The pain that Evangeline caused me was enough to stop any rational thinking on my part.

"E-Evangeline I-I–"

A shout comes from downstairs. "HERMIONE GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

I unfreeze and unwind my arms from Evangeline. "I-I'll be back. B-but we're going to talk about this when I get back Evangeline!"

I race downstairs where Neville's shout had come from and look at the three people around the table in the dining room. "What happened?"

Luna silently pointed at the table and the paper that was on it.

* * *

**The Truth Behind Hermione Granger So-Called Golden Girl**

**By: Rita Skeeter**

As many of my dear readers now, last week Hermione Granger, self-proclaimed Brightest Witch of the Century, returned to Great Britain a week ago. But she didn't come alone, she brought her daughter with her, Evangeline Granger, a daughter born out of wedlock along with her.

Many reporters speculated on the parentage of the girl when Hermione Granger was first spotted in our illustrious country but they were threatened into not revealing much information by Miss Granger herself. And now dear readers, I can tell you why. Not only was Evangeline Granger born out of wedlock, but she is also the result of a licentious affair between her mother and Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Despite the continued denial of the existence of a relationship since the duo's Fourth Year at Hogwarts, this reporter wonders if she hadn't instead seen the beginning of the shameful relation.

Whether hiding behind shadows and partners, this reporter wonders how such a 'relationship' got started but thankfully for us all, a close confidante of both parties was capable of answering these questions. Mr. Ronald Weasley himself had this to say about the salacious relationship between both war heroes:

"Harry *hick* always had something with Hermione going on. They were always together *hick* I wouldn't be surprised if they started f***ing before Fourth Year. Hermy knew that I fancied her in Sixth Year, she must have gotten a sick kick of trying to chase after me while she and Harry went behind Ginny and my back. I'm surprised she *hick* didn't end up pregnant earlier. But you want to know the really fucked up thing? She went to the Final Battle with her pregnant self. That's why her kid is so f***ed up."

When questioned about the nature of the child's problem this reporter was surprised to learn that she suffers from seizures thanks to the many Crucitacius she was exposed to as a child in her mother's womb. This reporter has to wonder at the sanity of a woman heading into war while pregnant and then refusing that same child treatment for the injuries that her mother herself caused. Are these the actions of a woman we want to teach our youth? A woman that without remorse has been known to terrorize her classmates and defy authority? This reporter calls for an investigation into the so-called Golden Girl and the removal of her custody of that poor bastard child.

* * *

I stare blankly at the words in front of me. I knew Skeeter still had it out for me, that witch was like a dog with a bone when it came to grudges, but to imply that I didn't do everything I could for my daughter? To say that I willingly endangered her?

'And all that with the helpful aid of my "close" confidante Ron.' I scoff.

Skeeter was done. I would drag her reputation through the mud and ruin her. And Ronald?

Ronald was dead to me.

Augusta, Neville, and Luna were talking over each other on what to do. This was a damning piece that Rita had written and could just as easily backfire on the Longbottoms when word got out of their involvement.

I never should have set foot on Great Britain again. But it was too late, the damage had been done, all I could do was deal with the fallout.

I place the newspaper back on the table. It was almost ten and I had an appointment to get to. "I'm going out," I tell the trio.

That sentence stopped the three bickering people. "I'll come with you," Neville says.

I summon a traveling cloak. It would look awkward over my muggle clothes but I never cared British for fashion or their opinions. "Thank you but I'll be fine. I had already planned this appointment to deal with the British press."

They all looked confused. "When did you even have the time to plan this? You just read the newspaper." Luna asks.

"After my confrontation with Harry at Gringotts." I fix the lapels of the cloak. I needed to present a composed image to the world. "I wanted to get ahead of any rumors and this was the best time to meet with the reporter I wanted."

Keelan had made his way to the dining room and brought Evangeline down with him. He looked at our tense faces and asked, "what happened?"

Luna gave him a brief overview while the elves got Evangeline settled. "Rita Skeeter is back at it with Ronald's help." 

"Is he not friendly to us?"

"Not anymore," Augusta replies. "He and his mother have made it abundantly clear what their thoughts are about Hermione. A friend that is more concerned in appearances than keeping confidences is no friend at all."

I press a kiss to Evangeline's forehead. "Mama has an appointment to get to but we'll talk tonight okay sunshine?"

Eva kissed my cheek. "Okay, Mama. Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, baby. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I walked to the foyer and grabbed some Floo powder. "Leaky Cauldron." The green flames engulfed me as I stepped into them. I wasn't afraid, the only thing in me right now was anger. I was done playing games with Skeeter.

I stepped out of the Leaky's floo brushing soot and powder off. The early morning chatter had gone quiet with my appearance but I paid them no mind. I make my way to the bar keeping my head tall. 

"Good morning Ms. Granger."

"Good morning Tom," I greet the barkeeper. "I was wondering if a Mr. Wallace had passed by yet?"

Tom paused his cleaning but the towel kept moving. "Hmm, I don't believe so. But let me ask Hannah, she was working the counter before me."

I smile at the barkeeper. "That would be nice. Thank you, Tom."

I slide onto a barstool and smile at my companion. "Good morning Skeeter." 

The witch had the gall to smile back. "Good morning Ms. Granger. How are you today?"

"I'm well thank you for asking," I reply in kind. "Nice article by the way. Very well written."

Skeeter sneers at me. "Of course it was. I am a reputable reporter."

"Reporter, yes. Reputable on the other hand? Now we both know that isn't true."

"How dare y-?"

"I do have a question though," I ask calmly. Patrons were looking our way interested in our fight. "How did you get Ron to speak?"

"Mr. Weasley didn't need my help to talk Granger. anyone would be disgusted at your actions."

"My actions huh? Well, I have my own hypothesis. You _drugged_ him. Slipped Verisatium into his drink and asked questions to your heart's content. Am I correct Ms. Skeeter?"

The pale sheen her skin took told me all. "You are making baseless accusations Ms. Granger," she tries to deflect.

"I don't doubt that Ronald said all those hurtful things. He's always been the jealous type. But you Ms. Skeeter should have thought twice before messing with me. Do you honestly believe one measly article is going to _hurt_ me? Better people, better _reporters,_ than you have tried and they've. All. Failed."

Rita exploded in all her hideousness. "My journalism is without compare Granger. Do you think that your little fame will protect you? You're nothing but trash in this country and I will do everything in my power to make sure everyone knows it."

Tom came back with Hannah Abbott in tow. "Here's Hannah Ms. Granger. She can answer all your questions about the ongoings on the Leakey this morning."

I ignore Skeeter and do a double-take at Hannah's appearance. "Merlin Hannah, the years have been good to you."

Hannah laughed. "Let's hope it stays that way for years to come, you flatterer. Now ask your questions so I can get back to work."

"Did a Mr. Barclay Wallace stopped by? I have an interview with him but I'm not sure if he's in the area yet?"

Hannah answers, "No one with that name has been by yet. Want me to direct him your way when he comes in?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"For you sugar, it's no trouble at all." She winks.

"It's still too early to be tempted so but I'm glad I stopped to ask," I flirt back jokingly. Skeeter would likely write an article about my deviant behavior but if Britain wanted to burn me at the stake they'd have to try harder than that. "Tell him I'll be waiting at the Snook Tea House if he asks."

"Sure thing Hermione."

I stand up. "Thank you, Tom, Hannah. And Ms. Skeeter," I lower my voice so only she can hear me, "I wonder what's the punishment for drugging an Auror? A pureblood Auror?"

I sweep out of the pub and into the Alley. My head was high even as people whispered behind my back and glared at me. I nod at the elf serving as host and allow him to direct me to my table.

I only had to wait a few minutes (and a cuppa) before my appointment walked through the door. 

"Good morning Mistress Granger. I hope you weren't waiting for long. I'm Barclay Wallace, it's an honor to meet you."

"Not at all, Mr. Wallace. I just got here myself. Please order what you want, it's on me."

"I couldn't possibly accept that Mistress."

"Please call me Hermione, I only use my titles when I need to throw my weight around."

"In that case please call me Clay."

"Well then Clay. Order a cuppa and tell me, have you heard the phrase fight fire with fire?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 20, 2004

Clay gives me a look. “Am I right to assume you are referring to the, pardon my French, pile of shite Skeeter wrote?”

I smile. “Good to know you are informed Clay but yes, this morning’s article is part of it.”

“I’m a reporter Ms. Granger. It is my job to stay on top of things.”

“If only every reporter could be like you. But I promised you some tea.” I flag down a waiter.

I wait until the waiter refills my cup and makes a new one for my companion. 

“While I do want to talk about today’s…mess, I’m more worried about the long term impact my stay in Great Britain will have on my international endeavors.”

Clay took a sip of his tea. “You wish to have a pristine presence in case you need to escape.”

“In short, yes.” I wave my hand around. “Even when I first stepped foot in Diagon Alley I was not welcomed. Brits say things have changed but I’m aware that nothing truly has.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this but I still don’t see what you want me to do. Brightest Witch of the Century or not I will not lie for you.”

I stop myself from rolling my eyes. “I want a reporter Barclay, not a mouthpiece. Britain may not recognize your talents, but you are a respected correspondent for major newspapers in the rest of the continent.

“On paper, I want to hire you to be my publicist and the sole source of information Great Britain has about me. Unofficially I’ll be feeding you nuggets of information for you to make a series of investigative reports on the Blood Wars.”

I see the interest shining in his eyes. No one had covered the Blood Wars. It wasn’t talked about in polite company and neither side had let anything slip of their involvement. The British public was more than fine with pretending it never happened at all.

“So what do you say, Mr. Wallace? Exclusive access to me and my daughter in exchange for pulling the curtain back on the bloodiest armed conflict in this country?”

\--

The next edition of the Charms Journal would feature Evangeline and me on the cover page. In mid-September the Wizengamot would begin the Autumn session, opening the floor to public discussion. Now having left Barclay with the address to Wool’s Orphanage and the name Tom Marvolo Riddle, I had most of my ducks in a row.

Let Skeeter incite riots, her and Barclay would generate enough interest, enough international outrage, that I’ll barely have to lift a finger to ruin her. International news reporters would do that for me.

If Skeeter and Britain want to tear me down to the global public, I would bring them down with me.

My feet carried me down the familiar path to Flourish and Blotts. It had been ages since I visited the place where I began my magical excursion and would be a good way to find a good book and unwind before mentoring Hogwarts students became my main task.

“Mistress Granger. Overlord Ragnarok would like to speak with you.”

Suppressing a sigh, I say, “please tell the Overlord that I need to make a quick stop to the bookstore but that I’ll soon be there.”

The goblin nodded and went back to its post at the bank. I had to jinx myself, didn’t I?

Doing as I promised I walk into Flourish and Blotts and grab the most recent British law books on sentient beings I could find. I had a feeling it would be my table topic with the bank president-slash-Overlord.

I didn’t dawdle in the bookstore. The faster I dealt with the goblins, the quicker I could deal with the rest of my preparations to go to Hogwarts.

I stood in front of a bank teller at Gringotts a few minutes later and waited to be taken to the chamber where I would meet the Overlord. A familiar voice behind me made me turn around.

“Hermione?”

“Bill, hello.” I greet him. “Working today?”

Bill grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the teller and deeper into the bank. “No offense but why are you here Hermione?”

“Overlord Ragnarok wants to meet me,” I answer.

He gave me a once over. “You don’t know.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Know what?”

“Harry walked out on the family yesterday.”

“What?” Oh, God. What had I done?

“Dad gave Harry an ultimatum. Recognize Evangeline as his daughter or become persona non grata with House Weasley.”

I grip Bill’s arm so my legs wouldn’t give out on me. “Harry left the Weasleys?”

“Hermione this is  _ not _ your fault. Harry is the one who decided he couldn’t give a shite about his own flesh and blood.”

I stare incredulously at Bill. “Don’t you understand Bill? I dropped a bombshell on him and now you’re telling me I took away the last family that he had left.”

“Hermione you didn’t hold dad at wand point and force him to force Harry’s hand. It’s  _ not _ your fault.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Curse breaker Weasley. Mistress Granger. Overlord Ragnarok is ready to see you, Mistress Granger.”

The goblin’s voice cut through our argument. We were still in view of the main hall but no one seemed to have caught on to our argument. Bill didn’t say anything, unsettled and standing stiffly.

I ignore him and nod to the goblin. “Please, lead the way Teller Silverclaw.”

The goblin pretended he hadn’t witnessed my distress and completed his duty as a pseudo tour guide through the halls of the bank. I was grateful for the silence and used it to pull myself back together. No longer would I let my emotions run rampant in public. It had happened twice already. I could not let it happen a third time.

The goblin stopped in front of a golden door and motioned me to go in. “Overlord Ragnarok is inside. I will remain outside to escort you back to the main hall.”

I thanked the teller and entered the room I had been taken to. I bowed to the bank president. “Overlord Ragnarok. Did you miss my presence that much that you decided to call me back so soon?”

The goblin offered a tight stretch of his lips, a smile for goblins as I had come to learn, and motioned for me to take a seat. “Not quite Mistress Granger. The reason I called you here is for more personal business.”

I crack a small smile. “Now I’m getting nervous Overlord. What personal business do I have with the bank that requires the attention of the bank’s ruling leader?”

“House business Mistress Granger.” My smile freezes in place. “Or more specifically, House Potter business.”

“I’m not a Potter,” I reply automatically.

“But your daughter is.” Overlord Ragnarok staples his fingers together. “Gringotts has received an owl from Lord Potter. He has effectively named Miss Evangeline Granger as his Heir and you Mistress Granger, as Regent of House Potter in case something was to befall him.”

I fall back on my seat. There was no way out of this situation. Harry bloody Potter had named me his Regent. I could rebel all I wanted to and the Family Magicks would leave us alone. But the  _ protection  _ that House Potter gave was…No other name could open door or safeguard Evangeline like a name attached to King Arthur’s. I would do anything to protect my loved ones including ruling House Potter to keep my daughter in a stable position and that fucking bastard knew it.

“What do I need to do?” I ask instead of letting out a long list of expletives.

Ragnarok waved his hand and a stack of papers materialized in front of me. “I had assumed you wouldn’t refuse Lord Potter’s offers.”

I accept the papers and give him a wary smile. Ragnarok was more concerned about continued profits from the vaults than anything else. “I might disagree with Harry’s methods, but I do my best to give my daughter a good future. Her being Heir presumptive of House Potter only reinforces that.”

“A most profitable choice.” The goblin agreed.

“Miss Evangeline’s appointment as the Heir is left to the discretion of the Head of House and family magicks. The position of Regent, however, comes with paperwork to bind the Regent into representing the House values while acting and ensuring the best interest of his or her charges.”

I grab the blood quill that had been left oh so conveniently in front of me. “Where do I sign Ragnarok?”

Claws fleeted over the stack of papers and stopped now and then to point at the places in need of signatures while rattling off the basics of what I was putting my blood on.

When the last page had been signed I silently look at Ragnarok to see if there were any other pressing issues that I needed to address. “Any other changes to my accounts?”

“No Mistress Granger. We will file the paperwork and both of you will receive a copy by days' end. Your account manager will conduct a full audit to learn the extent of your wealth in case you do become Regent and wish to keep your finances separate from that of House Potter.”

I nodded and stood up from my seat. “If that’s all then have a good day Overlord Ragnarok. May your coffers be full.”

“And may your enemies fall swiftly on your blades Mistress Granger.”

Silverclaw walks in and escorts me from Ragnarok’s office to the main hall. The silent walk forces me to ponder about every new wrench that had been thrown in my way since I arrived in Britain. Bad public opinion, hostile relations with the Weasleys, Evangeline’s relapse, and now being Regent to fucking House Potter if Harry dies. That was all I needed now, to inherit control over a Noble House if their Head was a suicidal man.

Damn it.

What if Harry was suicidal?

Was that why he named me Regent? In case he offed himself?

_ Was Harry Potter fucking suicidal? _

I nod stiffly at the goblin and make my way outside to an apparition/floo point. I set my floo on the floor and call out Longbottom manor.

“Hermione you’re back!”

I briefly look at Luna. “Where’s Evangeline?”

“She’s in the greenhouse with Neville? Is everything okay?”

“Harry named Evangeline his Heir,” I say flatly.

“That’s good! It means he’s trying to mend bridges-“

“He walked out on the Weasleys last night because of that very reason and now he’s naming a woman he claims to hate regent? He’s not mending bridges.”

“He just walked out? But Harry adores the Weasleys!”

“I don’t know nor do I care but Evangeline deserves to meet her father and with term almost starting I want to get it out of the way.”

Luna frowns. “I don’t think today is the best time. Skeeter’s article and the events from last night will still be fresh on his memory.”

“He might be suicidal.” I finally spit out. “He’s had his entire world turned upside down in less than twenty-four hours.”

Luna crossed her arms. “Hermione you’re exaggerating. Yes, Harry might be upset, but suicidal? Not after claiming he wanted custody so passionately last night.”

“If I’m wrong great, we discuss visits, if I’m right then Eva snaps him out of that funk.”

Arms wrap themselves around me. “Hermione, what happened?”

“He named me his regent.” Luna pauses. “ _ He named me his Regent Luna. _ ”

The full weight of the word fell on me. Being Regent to a House was more than just managing affairs until an heir came of Age. It was putting your family in the hands of another but even more than that it meant placing your  _ legacy _ in someone else’s hands. 

“Hermione…”

“I don’t want him to die Luna. He’s my best friend. I gave up everything for him.”

“Mama!”

Luna and I let go of each other. “I knew I felt your magic, Mama.”

I press a kiss to her dark mop of hair. “Hello, Sunshine.”

Evangeline smiled and I bend down to her level. “Say baby how would you like to come with me to meet your father?”

My smile begins to die down with her growing frown. “I don’t wanna see them! They’re mean and called you bad names.”

“The Weasleys won’t be there, it’ll just be Harry and us.”

“Just him?”

“I hope so.”

“Okay. I’m going to get ready.”

Evangeline dashes away leaving me alone with Luna again.

“Do you know where you’re going?” She asked.

I nod. “He’s left the Weasleys and I can still remember Grimmauld place so I assume he went there. If he’s not I’m sending a Patronus after him.”

“I hope you find him and find some closure.”

I look away from the hope in her eyes. Luna more than anyone had been arguing for reconciliation. “We’ll see.”

Eva comes back and I pick her up. Together the three of us walked outside the anti-apparition wards.

When I re-opened my eyes I immediately notice the changes that had happened in the street. Houses had been renovated or altered but the street maintained its high-class feel.

Gently I place Evangeline’s feet on the ground and grab her hand in my and knock on Grimmauld Place Twelve.

The door opened and a pair of emerald green eyes met mine.

“Hello, Harry. Won’t you invite us in?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August 20, 2004

Harry's p.o.v

The doctor directed me to one of the chairs and sat across from me. "Why don't we start by sharing our names?"

"I-I'm Harry Potter."

Dr. McDouglas extended her hand and I hesitate to shake it. "Hello Mr. Potter, my name is Doctor Mackenzie McDouglas. You said that you were a puppet outside, would you like to tell me a bit more about that?"

Instead of letting it all out as verbal vomit I grip the chair's arms and make sure to censure myself. "I- it began seven years ago. I was part of the military. There were battles that I can't tell you about but we won. We won and then everything went wrong."

"What went wrong Harry? Can I call you Harry?"

I nodded at her but my eyes didn't leave the stain on the floor. "I didn't want the fame that came with winning. I always just wanted to be Just Harry. I didn't want to be a war hero! But then we won, everyone was looking up to me and my best friend left me so I just let it happen. I didn't fight back."

The doctor scribbled something and clicked the pen. "Why didn't you fight back if that wasn't what you wanted?"

"Because it was the easier thing to do. I'm a coward," I whispered the last sentence and realized just how true the words were. I was a coward. I had let others fight the war against Voldemort instead of just doing it myself.

A hand on my knee shook me out of my stupor. "You're not a coward Harry." I shake my head but the doctor grabbed my chin and made me look at her. "You're not a coward Harry. The fact that you're here, asking for help shows that you're not a coward."

My gut sunk even lower. People always said great things about me but none of them were ever true.

"The office officially closes in ten minutes Harry so how about this. We make you an appointment for this week and we can talk more then. Go over your situation in more detail so that we can find a way to help you okay? Tonight, go home and try to remove yourself from as many negative ties as you can okay? It doesn't have to be permanent, just take a break and if you want to return to it later you can. As a stronger man. If it causes you pain then get rid of it. Think of it as a new beginning from now on. Does that sound good?"

I could do that. I could cut my ties to the past. There were some people that I couldn't ignore but I could do that. "Yes."

McDouglas smiled and sat down in front of her computer. "Great. How does eleven on Thursday work for you?"

I nod. She typed away on her computer and I stood up and said my goodbyes to the doctor and her secretary as I walked out. I was going to fix this.

My resolve grew weaker the nearer I got to Grimmauld but there was a stubborn part in me that forced me to keep going. To a least give it a try. That voice sounded suspiciously like Sirius.

I nodded at Kreacher as I enter and summon quill and parchment. For the first time in a while, I sat down and thought about what I wanted and put those thoughts to paper.

'To Head Auror Auburn,

'I'm writing this letter to give you my official resignation from the Auror force and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as a whole. I have enjoyed my years under your service but it's time for me to move on.

I could go on with a thousand reasons why I'm doing this but I'll just give you one: I refuse to be the Ministry's poster boy. In my own, honest, opinion, things have changed under Shacklebolt but it's not enough and I refuse to head this 'movement'. Let someone else do it for a while.

I do not know what my next steps will be but I will take this time as a Sabbatical to determine my future path. Thank you for your guidance for these last six years.

Sincerely,

Lord Harry James of the Ancient and Noble House Potter.'

I don't give myself time to rethink my words. I seal the letter and hand it to Kreacher. "Kreacher owl this to Head Auror Auburn."

Kreacher's old ears touched the ground. "Yes, Master Harry."

I stared after the elf as he disappeared from view. I had signed away my childhood dream of catching the bad guys but for the life of me, I couldn't say that I regretted it. If anything, I felt like I could take a real breath for the first time in years. I wanted to keep feeling so light.

The chair dragged on the floor as I moved on to the next room. I passed many portraits of the Weasleys and myself and I stopped in front of the lone picture of me and Hermione. It was taken during our Fifth Year and we were happy.

When did we stop being happy?

Fingers grazing against the frame I pulled the picture down and observe the little details on the picture. The light reflected on my glasses, her mussed hair, we were young and so. Bloody. _Happy_. And then everything had gone wrong.

The paint behind the picture was chipping. I dig my fingers in and I peeled away at it. Now that I had seen it I couldn't unsee it. I didn't think about my wand in my holster or any of the home spells that would make the chipped paint disappear.

"Kreacher!"

Kreacher popped into existence beside me. "Yes, Master Harry?"

"Remove all the pictures and paintings from the walls. We're remodeling the house."

Number 12 Grimmauld Place screamed Man-Who-Conquered and not The-Boy-Who-Didn't-Give-A-Shit. That was going to change tonight.

Three more owls left that night. One left for the Burrow, to Ginny and the Weasleys apologizing for my behavior. The other also went to the Ministry to inform the Wizengamot of the change in affairs of House Potter and my intention to claim my seats. The last was to Gringotts.

I knew she would hate it. Hermione never hid her distaste for the Wizengamot and their archaic laws. But Evangeline was a half-blood in a country that still considered those of "pureblood" as superior. And Hermione...Hermione would fight tooth and nail to give our- _her_ daughter the best chance in the world. I'd known for years that Hermione would be the best Regent for House Potter and House Black. I was just doing what Just Harry would have done in a heartbeat.

I signed the paperwork with ink and blood. Evangeline would be the Heir to House Potter and House Black and Hermione would be their Regent.

Kreacher and I spent the night remodeling the main entrance of the house. We tore down the expensive navy wallpaper and transfigured the floor about four times before I decided to simply return it to its original form until I could decide what I was going to do with it. The entrance was in disarray but so was my life and that felt strangely satisfying.

I felt back in control again. It was early morning after dinner with Hermione and the weight that I had been feeling since I first heard of her arrival was lighter. Seeing her again after so many years in front of Gringotts felt like coming home.

"Does Master know what he will make the new house like?"

I look at the elderly elf and then at the picture of Hermione and me. "I will make a home Kreacher and not just a house." The grandfather clock chimed and I remembered that I hadn't slept in twenty-four hours. "What time is it Kreacher?"

Kreacher popped all the rubble away from the entrance and started working on making it more presentable. "It be seven in the morning Master," he answered.

Seven. Normally I would be getting ready for work at this hour. "Kreacher I'm going out to see what stores are open. Have breakfast ready by nine please. I'll try to be back by then."

"Yes, Master Harry."

I apparated to Kent, a smaller shopping district in magical Britain, and throw on a glamour charm. Deliberately I ignore the minor Gringotts entrance that leads to the main bank preferring to peruse the stores for any that may fit my needs. If I didn't have to step foot in Diagon Alley today then I would be most happy.

For the most part, most stores were closed due to the early hours but then there were the stores that seemed to open before more conventional times. I enter one of them.

"Good morning and welcome to Ilks' Silks. We have everything from silk to wool to decorate your home. How may we help you today sir?"

I approach the counter and smile at the teen manning the table. "I'm decorating my house and I need…"

* * *

"Master Harry is back!"

I hang my coat in the coat rack and let Kreacher take the bags from me. Everything had been shrunk down for better transportation and was ready to be used.

I slide into the table with the food and dig in. "Has anyone owled this morning Kreacher?"

The elf shook his head in the negative. "No Master Harry but owl do come with Prophet sir."

With a snap of his fingers, the morning's newspaper appeared in front of me. The piece of toast went down the wrong channel when I saw the front page. In big bold letters, the name of the author couldn't be missed. Rita Skeeter and Hermione Granger in one paper article were not good news and the more I read the story the more my suspicions proved correct. And Ron had gotten involved. _Shit._

My heart dropped to my stomach and the thought of food put me off. My hand brushed against the buckets of paint and I blink. I didn't remember getting up from the table and into the main entrance. Still, my hand had a paintbrush in my hand and the walls had been prepped for the cream color.

A knock on the door resonated through the hall and I stop Kreacher from attending to it. I was closer anyway. Ignoring my disheveled appearance, I open the door.

My eyes meet the honey brown that was Hermione's and the paintbrush falls to the ground. My heart also dropped further than my stomach, it dragged through the floor when I saw the miniature head of hair in the same shade brown as her mother.

There was a polite smile on Hermione's face but her eyes were cold and furious. "Hello, Harry. Won't you invite us in?"

I stepped aside like the entrance was on fire. "Please come in. Can I take your cloaks? Would you like something to drink? I can have Kreacher fetch us something." I stammer out.

Mini Hermione looked around and turned up her nose at the mess that was the main entrance. "Mama this place is a mess," Evangeline told her mother in French.

I bit my lip to stop a laugh from bubbling out. Merlin but she looked so much like her mother. Through her eyes of green and brown, I could see her six-year-old mind judging me and finding me wanting just like her mom did when we were eleven and on the train to Hogwarts.

Hermione also looked at the foyer with distaste but refrained from saying anything. Evangeline had that covered.

"English sunshine," Hermione gently chided instead.

I jump in at the opening. "It's fine Hermione. I know some French and wouldn't mind practicing with Evangeline if she doesn't mind." I say excitedly.

Mother and child exchange looks and I was afraid I'd come off too strong.

"Be that as it may Harry, we're still in England and must speak the language."

Of course, Evangeline would need to speak English. She would need the practice to communicate with the people around her. And here I was trying to go against one of Hermione's rules.

"Of course!" I try to reassure quickly. "I just wanted her to know she had the choice with me."

I swallow down any of those thoughts afraid of what else I might say and usher them deeper into the house. "Please excuse our appearance, we're in the middle of remodeling."

Hermione stopped her progress into the house and turned to glare at me. Too late I realize that was the wrong thing to say to her.

"Why are you remodeling?"

We both turn to look at Evangeline still staring curiously at the house.

"Grimmauld was asking for a change."

Eva giggled. She _giggled._ "Houses don't talk silly!"

"Shh don't let Grimmauld hear you say that." I joke.

I guide the two females to the living room and take a seat after they do. Kreacher popped in with the snacks and thankfully stayed out of sight.

"Not that I'm not thankful or anything but why are you here?"

Hermione pushed her hair back. It had grown longer in our time apart, the weight of it smoothing out her curls into softer rings.

"Last night was a...mess." That's one way to put it delicately. "I wanted you to have the chance to speak just us and actually introduce you both.

"Evangeline, meet your father Harry James Potter. Harry meet Evangeline Lilian Granger, your...daughter."

Hermione's face told me there was more she wanted to say but right then I only had eyes for the little girl in the room. It was one thing to know I had a child, it was entirely another to truly be introduced to her.

There were too many emotions for me to identify. But I knew regret, shame, and guilt like they were old lovers.

I extend my hand to her. It dwarves hers in comparison but nothing in the world compared to holding my daughter for the first time. "Hello, Evangeline. My name is Harry and I guess I'm your…dad. Do – would you mind if I called you Eva? Evangeline is a mouthful, right?" I try to joke.

Evangeline frowned and my heart fell to my stomach. "But what do I call you?"

This time, it was Hermione and me who shared a look. "Whatever you want," is my response. Hermione nods softly as well.

"I'll have to think about it then," Eva said very seriously. Merlin, she was just like her mother.

Hermione smiled and ran her hand through Eva's hair. "Why don't you think about it somewhere else while I speak to Harry for a while sunshine?"

Eva noodles gently and jumped off the couch. "Okay. I will be right over there mama."

I open my mouth to start talking but Hermione raises a hand and stops me. " _Muffliato_."

I flinch at the spell. It was a _war_ spell.

"I hate that spell," I said unthinkingly.

Hermione's face remained unchanged. "It's a convenient spell." She answers.

I give a wry smile. "Then we've exchanged stances."

"That's not the only thing we changed our minds on." Hermione gives me a look. "You named me your Regent."

I shrug. "Who better than the mother of my Heir to watch over my House in case of my untimely death?"

Her face went white. "Don't even joke about that Harry."

I stare at Hermione. "If the war's taught us anything is that we can die at any moment, Hermione."

"Don't," she snaps, "talk to me about the war."

"You've come to the wrong country then. The war is all anyone wants to talk about here. In Great Britain, you're either a War Hero or you're not."

Hermione reaches out for her cup. "In Great Britain, you're either loved or hated."

"So you read Skeeter's article."

She huffs out a laugh. "Is there anyone who hasn't read that article by now?"

"Of course not. They will be talking about this for days."

We fell silent again. This is what half a decade apart had done to us. It wasn't too surprising, at this point we'd spent almost as much time apart as we did together.

We weren't going to talk about the elephant in the room. We didn't want to.

Hermione fidgeted with her blouse. To anyone else, it might simply be her adjusting her clothes but to a person who knew her, it was a glaring tick of hers.

"Are you planning to kill yourself?"

I choke on the tea I had picked up. "Wha- Merlin's beard Hermione! Where on Earth did you come up with that idea?"

She counts off her fingers. "The woman you slept with once has a kid, your daughter is a mess who wavers between hating you or loving you, and the people that you have called family have left you in the dust. This is the Fifth Year all over again."

"I made my peace with the past!" I snap.

"Have you really? Then I commend you for it. My ghosts still haunt me. I live with them every single day."

The cup was threatening to break so I relieve it and hold her hand instead. "Hermione, I'm _sorry_. I was a shitty friend, I still am but please give me a chance to make things right. I'm trying-"

Angry brown orbs glared at me. "I don't want empty platitudes, Harry. You always do stupid shit when you feel compromised and I always bear the brunt of it. I just want to know what the hell you were thinking."

"You're not listening." I hiss. "I'm not suicidal! I'm just trying to protect you both!"

"Has it occurred to you that I don't need protection?" She bites back. "I can damn well protect myself and my daughter."

"You. Always. Do. This." We're both standing now. "You always think you're right and ignore everything else. I'm trying the best I can to protect you from the vultures and make assassins like the Neo Death Eaters think twice before attacking the Potter Heir and Regent." I'm trying to protect you like I couldn't before.

The fight leaves her. She knew. Hermione _knew_ just how important names and blood still were in Europe. "I just want to know why." Hermione wasn't looking in my direction.

"I just want to know why wasn't I good enough for you to chase after me."

My breath becomes short then. I couldn't speak about it. Not with her, not with anyone. "Hermione–"

"Why did you sleep with me, Harry?" I looked away and I heard the moment she gave up on me. Hermione pulled her hand away and stomped to her daughter and the door. She stopped just outside the threshold.

"Sometimes I wonder what I ever saw in you. As a friend and as a lover. Goodbye Harry." The door slammed behind her and the last pieces that were intact in me shattered.

The room I was in became blurry and my hands clenched under saline drops.

"I love you," I say to the empty house.

* * *

**NEW POTTER HEIR** **REVEALED**!

Sources in Gringotts and the Ministry all say the same thing. Around 9:00pm last night an owl arrived at both locations. While no official confirmation has been shared regarding the contents of the Gringotts letter, sources point out that it was posted by one Lord Harry J. Potter. The Ministry owl was filed and added to official records and this afternoon it's been confirmed. His Lordship Harry J. Potter has named Evangeline L. Granger as the sole Heiress to the Potter fortune and name. While little is known about this little girl, her mother, Mistress Hermione J. Granger, is a world-renowned Potions and Charms Mistress who's more than made her mark on the world.

But what does this mean for any aspiring Mrs. Harry J. Potter? Records do not state if Heiress Evangeline is the sole heir regardless of future children or if Lord Potter will make his final selection in future years. A well known and "fan" favorite for this exclusive position has been Miss Ginevra M. Weasley who has been dating Lord Potter on-and-off for years. Many have predicted that the two would soon tie the knot and produce heirs of their own but that has been called into question with Miss Weasley's sixth brother's tell-all interview with the Daily Prophet.

Continued on page 2.


	13. Chapter 13

Evangeline's p.o.v

Mama's hands flew to her mouth to cover a sob. Her pretty hair was hiding her face but I could still see the tears that were falling.

Mama and Harry had been arguing. I got distracted by Kreacher's yummy snacks but I saw when they both stood up and their faces got red. I don't know what they said but it didn't look very nice at all.

We were still standing outside Harry's living room. My face scrunched up. Maybe I did hate Harry. Every time Harry came up Mama got this look on her face. But maybe this time they both upset each other. They were both angry today.

I grip my book tighter and pull on her hand. "Mama? Are you okay?"

"Too little, too late." Mama's shoulders hunched and the tears came faster. "Too little, too bloody late. Come on Evangeline we're done here."

I let Mama pull me after her but I can't help the pull on my magic that told me she was upset but it was something else. There was someone else crying for help too.

We sidestep the messes on the floor and Mama prepared to apparate us away. Just when I felt Mama get ready to make us leave I let go of her hand and watch her disappear on her own. Someone was crying and Mama always told me to follow my instincts. Whoever was crying needed my help.

I scramble back into the building and sweep inside as I follow my magic. Standing on tippy toes I look through the keyhole of the room we had been in. Harry was sitting on the couch and he was _crying_. Mama said that it was okay for both boys and girls to cry but Neville and grandpa never cried unless they were really really sad. I crack open the door and enter.

"Why are you crying?" I ask him. He might be a bad man who made Mama cry but Mama also said to be nice to sad people so I'll be nice for now.

"Evangeline! What are you doing here? Where's your mum?"

His face was still wet and his eyes puffy, like a bunny. "I let go of Mama's hand when she apparated. My magic felt sad."

"Your…magic?"

I nod. Happy that he understood. "It told me someone was sad so I stayed. Mama says my magic is sensibleh."

I walk up to Harry and wipe away his tears like Mama does to me. "Don't cry. You might be a bad man who makes Mama cry but no one should cry. Baba says it makes you ugly."

Harry grabbed my hands and pulled them away from his face. His hands were weird a bit odd like he didn't know what to do with them. "Then Baba is very smart Evangeline. Crying does make you ugly and I'm very sorry for making your mum cry."

"Then why did you do it? Why make Mama cry?"

Sadness entered Harry's eyes again and tears pooled in again. "I didn't mean to make her cry. Hermione was my world."

"Then why did you let her go?"

"Because I didn't know what I wanted."

"Why?"

"Because I was an immature git who didn't appreciate the one good thing he had. Because I wanted to "find" myself when that's all that Hermione knew. Harry Potter, not the Boy who Lived."

I jump into the seat next to him and hug my knees. "Mama loves Harry Potter. She writes letters to him all the time."

"She does?"

"Mhm. She never mails them but she's always happier when she's done. I read them once."

"What was it about?"

"Me and how I started walking. It was an old letter. I think I was one when she wrote it but I don't really know because I've been walking for-ever!"

"She wrote letters…" he murmured but I heard him.

"Many letters. Like this much." I show him with my arms how many letters Mama wrote to him. When he didn't look like he was going to answer I ask him my first question again. "Why are you crying?"

He sighed. "For many reasons. Your mum, you, me. For the time we lost, for everything that I missed-"

I interrupt him. "I'm smart but I'm not that smart. I don't understand, you're going in circles, Harry."

He looked at me. "You're right. I guess what I'm trying to say that I'm crying because we lost so much time and we can never get it back."

It was quiet between us for that moment. Harry didn't say anything, I didn't say anything, but it wasn't weird. It was but not that kind of weird, a good kind of weird. Harry wasn't so sad anymore.

"Do you think you could ever call me dad?"

I scrunch my nose. "No. It's just been me and Mama for the ages. I don't think of anyone as dad."

"Do you hate me, Evangeline?"

I look at my feet. "I-I don't hate you. Baba says life's too short to hate someone," my legs swing above the floor, "I'm sorry I said I did, I was mad."

Harry reached a hand towards me and slowly I grab it. "I'm sorry I left you and your mum alone Evangeline."

My legs stop moving. "Did you do it for a good reason?"

"…no but I'll try my best to redeem myself in your eyes."

I bite my lip. "It's okay. I forgive you."

The Floo vibrated on my wrist and I detached the charm and threw it on the floor. Instantly it roared to life and Uncle Neville stepped out. He sent me a smile. "There you are, Eva. We were worried."

"I was with Harry."

Uncle Nev barely gave Harry a look. "You should know better than to worry your mother like that Evangeline. Come, we're going back home."

Harry stood up. "Neville wait."

"What is it, Potter?"

But Harry wasn't looking at Uncle Nev. He was looking at me. "Do you want to meet again Evangeline? If your mother doesn't mind of course."

I shrug. "I think I'd like that. Goodbye o pai."*

There was a confused look on his face but he smiled anyway. "Bye ma bichette."**

Uncle Nev pulled me into the floo and we reappeared moments later in the Longbottom manor floo. I let go of Uncle Nev's hand and rush to Mama's side.

_"Evangeline!"_

" _I'm sorry Mama!"_

Mama wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in close. "Sunshine _don't ever pull away from me again."_

_"Desculpe Mama."_

Mama sighed and pulled away from me. "Why did you do it Sunshine?"

I shrug and put my hands on her shoulders. "He was sad Mama."

Mama opened her mouth to say something but then my stomach rumbled. I had skipped lunch! "Loly could you bring Evangeline her snacks please?"

"Loly bes happy too!"

Topsy grabbed my hand and pulled me to a couch where Loly had snacks waiting for me. Auntie Luna and Keelan entered the room and went to Mama's side.

"Hermione how was he?" Aunt Luna asked.

Mama laughed sadly. "He's remodeling Grimmauld. He says it's not because of Evangeline but…"

"You still think he did for her." Auntie Luna huffs. " I don't see how that's a bad thing. You changed plenty of things about your life when you learned about Eva."

"He called her little doe."

I nibble my sandwich. Uncle Nev was talking about o pai. Yes, I gave Harry a nickname and he gave me one in return!

Mama gives a small smile. "James Potter was a stag animagus and Harry's Patronus is a deer."

My chest started feeling warm. I had been _so_ mean to him but he still gave me a nickname that sort of ran in the family. My grandfather was a deer! O pai's patronus was a deer! Maybe I could be a deer too!

I was very happy with how things went today. I woke up surrounded by family had delicious snacks and now I was learning more about o pai! I always wanted a father who loved me but I never told mama. She would feel bad when I did.

"And o pai? That's what she called him." Silly Uncle Nev. It was _simple_.

"Pai sounds like dad. So maybe something along those lines? I'm not too sure about the language but it sounds like a romance language. Maybe Portuguese or Spanish.” Mama is so smart! The smartest Mama in the world! "Evangeline has always been very compassionate. And I was such a _witch_ to him!"

The sandwich became mush in my hands and the warm tingly feeling became cold. Mama was having one of her episodes.

"Hermione no-"

"I just went in and attacked him. I wanted so bad to hug him and breakdown in his arms but I-I couldn't! It hurts. It hurts so much. He cast me aside but it still hurts so much. I was so close to forgiving him but if I'd done that then I would end up hating him. Everything would be pushed aside and it would be like nothing had happened and that's not right. He wasn't there but how can I hate him for something I wanted so badly?"

None of the adults were paying any attention to me so I slip off the couch and head outside. Luna and Neville and Keelan we’re trying to make things better, but I knew they were only making it worse. Luna and Keelan were against Mama and Neville wanted Mama to forget the whole thing and move on.

It was time to call someone else.

I call Loly and wait for her to appear.

"Little Miss Eva bes calling Loly?"

"Yes, Loly." I was always to be respectful, even with the house elves. They took care of me after all as Mama said. "Loly can you find Draco and bring him here? I'm sure he can help Mama!"

Loly brightened up. We both hated seeing Mama sad. "Loly bes right back!" Loly popped away and I scrambled back into the sitting room. Instead of going back to my seat I climb mama's lap and hug her.

"It's okay Mama. No need to be sad. Harry is also sorry. I love you."

Her arms were warm around me. "I love you too sunshine."

"You lot rang?"

"Hi."

The adults all turned to Draco and Scorpius and I wave at them from my side.

"Draco what are you doing here?"

Draco shrugged and stepped further into the room. "A little elf told me you might need help. We needed some fresh air."

I giggle and wave them closer together. "Hi, Scorpius."

Keelan was frowning but he stepped aside as Draco plopped down on the couch and hugged Mama.

"I'm going to become an expert on calming you down right?"

Mama blubbered. "Shut up Malfoy I'm not up for your games."

Draco hummed. "Potter reminds you of the war and everything you've tried to forget."

"Yes," she whispered.

"You can't forget Granger. You can only accept it and move on."

"I can't Draco I bloody can't."

He looked through his pocket. "I couldn't either. So, I got help."

"Draco please."

"I'm serious Granger. I talked to a muggle therapist. It helped. It was either that or losing Astoria and Scorpius. Guess which I picked?"

"I do talk to people." Pause. "Does it really help?"

"I promise you. If it doesn't at least you can say you _tried_."

"Okay."

"Here." He gave her a card.

"Doctor McDouglas."

"She's the one I talked to. She's really good. And you can use my story so less work for you. We can go now if you want."

"Tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to cry."

"Tomorrow then."

Mama brushed my hair with her fingers. She started to sing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

You never know, dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *O pai - Brazilian Portuguese for dad
> 
> **Ma bichette - french for my little doe
> 
> *** You are my sunshine - The song was first performed by Billy Davis and Charles Mitchell around 1938-39. It was first recorded by the musical group The Carters and then by the Pine Ridge Boys, both also in 1939 on the Decca Records label. It's been recorded by nearly fifty singers since then.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 20, 2004

Ron’s POV

After landing in front of the Burrow I was ready to knock out. With my teammates and the press hounding me, you would think it was the end of Voldemort all over again. Then again, a piece of drama this juicy hadn't fallen in the Prophet's hands in years.

And what a piece it was. "Bloody slag, fucking my best friend behind my back and having his kid. Would serve her right if the little messed up bastard got taken away from her."

I finally make it to the front door and make my way in. It was late, almost nine, and the house was surprisingly quiet.

"Mum?" I call out into the house.

"In the kitchen Ron," she answered.

I drop my bags next to the door and stalk off towards the kitchen. A plate or two of mum's cooking would be just the thing before I knackered off. "You won't believe the day I've had mum, everywhere I went, reporters, reporters everywhere. One even tried to ask me questions when I was in the loo!"

But mum didn't answer. Instead her, Ginny, and dad sat around the table with grim faces when I entered the kitchen. "Sit down Ron." Dad cut in before I can open my mouth.

I drop down on a chair and look at the parentals. Mum looked like she was about to kneel over and Ginny was on the verge of tears, again. 'I bet it has to do with that traitor Potter.'

A newspaper gets thrown in front of me and Percy glared down at me. "Do you have any idea what you've done Ronald?"

"What are you doing in my house? When the hell did you even get here?"

The infamous Weasley temper was making an appearance on Percy's face. "You called  _ Hermione _ a loose woman, questioned her parenting skills, and made the Prophet question her morals in the national newspaper. Hermione Granger, the same world-renowned Potions and Charms Mistress with connections to various ministries in the world and who has shaken more influential hands than we have family members. And you're worried about how I got inside  _ our _ parent's house? How typical of you Ronald. Typical and incredibly stupid."

I slam my hand down and point at my still estranged brother. "Don't you dare talk down on me Percy. I told Skeeter the truth; Hermione fucked Harry and dragged her pregnant arse into the Final Battle. Her bastard is fucked up by her own actions and not even those so-called powerful people can change the truth."

Percy growled. "I don't care if it’s the truth or not! I just regained my standing in the Ministry. You might not give a shite but I have a family to support and you just dragged your teenage indiscretions right into the Ministry's doors."

"My 'teenage indiscretions'? I wasn't the one to fuck my best friend behind their backs!"

"This isn't about who fucked who six years ago." Percy roared. "It's about how the Weasley family is going to suffer when the entire world realizes that you called their savior a whore! 

Do you think Shackleboot will support you instead of bending to international pressure? And what about Ginny? Her precious Quidditch career will suffer when no country lets her team even get close to their borders." Pots rattled in the small kitchen with the force of Percy’s magic.

Quiet. It was quiet in the Burrow. Doors hadn’t opened for the Weasleys in so long to lose it like this. "If it is how you say what can we do?" Ginny speaks for the first time. "The Harpies start their international tour in two months and I refuse to lose my spot because that bitch Hermione decided to come back to England. I lost my boyfriend, I will not lose my career too."

The red started to recede from Percy's face and his magic also started to settle down. "We can start with damage control. If we let out that Ron's words were an exaggeration or we could even spin it as anger towards the war for what it did to the kid it would take some heat off."

Dad shook his head. "The Ministry would still investigate. Ron claimed that Hermione didn't get any medical help for Evangeline."

And that's when  _ I _ explode. "I will not take my words back! That bitch wants to screw with our lives and I will not let her. How can you of all people be blind to her manipulations Percy? Granger only wants to make the world pity her to get more attention. She did it in Fourth year with Krum and the hate mail, she did it again with her little disappearance and now she's at it one more time. Why can't all of you see that?"

Mum nodded enthusiastically. It was all right in her world when her children were not at fault. "Ronald is right Arthur. That little tramp is trying to tear this family apart and ruin your careers our of some weird sense of revenge."

"Enough Molly. It seems I did not make myself clear last time so I'll repeat myself for the last time. We owe it to Hermione to be open-minded about her decisions and  _ not _ poisonous against her. You will clean up your act with her Ron and I say this as the Head of this family."

An owl flew in through the kitchen window and dropped its cargo in Percy's lap. "That might not be possible anymore dad." He said pointing at the front cover of the latest Charms Journal.

With Hermione bloody Granger on the cover.

\--

** Hermione Granger: Woman Behind the Genius **

** Alexander Smirnov **

The year is 1992, an unknown creature is lurking in the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and petrifying muggleborn students. The year is 1996, six teenagers go into the Department of Mystery and engage in what's known as the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. The year 1998 and Voldemort's reign of terror comes to an end with the Battle of Hogwarts, other wised known as the Final Battle.

All of these are conflicts where the then-dubbed Golden Trio were in action while the rest of the school populace went about their daily lives. But enough is already known about the male duo of the trio and nowhere near enough information is known about its sole female component.

Until recent years Mistress Hermione Granger had not made much of an impact in world news only to be catapulted to international fame with the discovery of the cure to Lycanthropy, a curse that afflicted thousands of witches and wizards around the globe. Since then her claims to fame have only grown and more groundbreaking discoveries expected from her.

Hermione Jean Granger was born September 19, 1979, in Paris, France during a family vacation. The only daughter to the pair of dentists (muggle teeth healers) Doctors Jean and William Granger. A brilliant child even in her childhood, Mistress Granger carried her primary school work ethic onto Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when she entered the school on September 1, 1991, at the slightly older age of 12 years old.

Throughout her school years, Mistress Granger gained a reputation for being a "know-it-all swot" and meticulous rule-following along with her color-coded schedules. Her extracurriculars included solving puzzles even adults twice her age couldn't solve, rebelling against unfair government treatment and terrorism, and acquiring knowledge that would later turn out to be the downfall of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

In preparation for the war, the then Miss Granger erased her parent's memories of herself, an action she will "forever be sorry but never regret" as according to Mistress Granger herself, her parent's safety was in danger. Her suspicions were later confirmed when Death Eaters confessed to having planned an attack on her parents' home mere weeks after their removal in the official transcripts of the Death Eater trials of 1998 – 2001. The family says that they have come out stronger from the ordeal and their actions showed it when Miss Evangeline Granger came into the picture.

Miss Evangeline Luna Granger is the first, and so far, the only child Mistress Granger has had to date and was born in Australia on August 19, 1998, a month before her mother's birthday and has been confirmed to have been a difficult birth. The baby, now a six-year-old little girl, suffered from extensive spams and seizures as a result of her mother being put under the Crucitatius curse a month before her premature delivery. Still, Miss Evangeline has remained the main motivation for Mistress Granger to move forward as she achieved an O in her Potions NEWTs and the completion of her Potions Mastery in the record time of 2-and-a-half years and later followed by her Charms Mastery. Mistress Granger's discoveries have happened because of pure coincidence as it is. Her main reason for research is her daughter's ailment, everything else was just pieces that fell in line when Mistress Granger discovered the similarities between Miss Evangeline's and the werewolves' troubles.

Thanks to the medical research Mistress Granger has performed, Healers and patients around the world benefit from the better methods of diagnostic spells of diseases and curses along with breathing fresh air into the science of potion brewing with revamped remedies and potions-based treatments. All of this coming from a woman who had enough time in the span of six years to gain two Masteries, create a revolutionizing cure, modernize medicine, and still have time to have dinner with her child. Ladies and gentlemen a better person for our 200th edition of the Charms Journals simply refused to be found.

_ The official interview continues on the next page. _

\--

Hermione's p.o.v

"Have you seen the Charms journal yet?"

I don't bother looking up and flip another page worth of notes. I had made a mountain’s worth of them and now had to force myself to go through all of them and discard the more undoable of them. "No Neville, nor do I plan to anytime soon. Professor McGonagall wants an idea of how I plan to mentor the students. I'm looking through my notes to see if there's anything I can get started on while mentoring a couple of teenagers."

I felt more than saw Neville rolling his eyes at me before walking closer to my work table. "As if you don't already know. Didn't you say that the goblins wanted you to fight for their rights?"

I shrugged and crossed another thing out.  _ Making electricity work inside of Hogwarts was a task for another day.  _ "Aside from research, there isn't much I can do politically while the English are trying to attack me. No, I need something more substantial and related to my masteries."

"You won't have to worry about that for long," Neville states, "Smirnov did a great piece with the interview you gave him."

What? I blink owlishly at Neville. "Interview?" 

This time I do catch him rolling his eyes. Like me, Neville was working through his lesson plan for the lower years taking Herbology come September. "The interview you performed in Germany before coming here?"

I smile, there were a lot of interviews. "You're going to have a bit more specific."

I hear him groan and laugh, "the one with that picture of you and Evangeline in Damascus' gala."

" You mean - oh Merlin, I knew I would be featured but I forgot they asked for an interview!"

A kiss landed on the crown of my hair and a magazine on top of my notes. "It came out beautiful Hermione."

His deep baritones were indeed soothing to my soul. "Thank you, Keelan."

"Do you need help organizing those thoughts of yours?"

I push my notes towards him. "Please."

While Keelan looked over my writing I silently peruse the room. The three of us worked in the main library. Luna was practicing her reading skills with Evangeline while she waited for Ministry approval to open the first school for pre-Hogwarts students. Augusta was working in the Wizengamot as representative of House Longbottom and probably tearing the younger Lords and Ladies apart to get her Muggle Integration bill passed. All in all, our family was working on their usual endeavors.

"Have you decided what personal project you'll work on? Mentoring teenagers won't take up too much of your big brain."

My eyes go back to Keelan. "I'm not sure yet but George's idea of communication mirrors is perking my interest."

"Want to bring Britain to the twenty-first century eh?" Neville grinned over his parchments.

I grin. "Kicking and screaming if I have to."

Keelan huffed. "The magical world is not as antiquated as you think it is."

"Non-magicals have had instant communication for over a century. The magical world  _ is  _ stuck in the past."

"And the Goblins?"

"A joint project between Lady Augusta and me." Joint project huh? "Thinking about it I can probably hoist some of the research and argument-making to my students. It can be the unifying factor of this experiment."

"I guess you're ready for the start of term then Professor Granger."

"Merlin I hope so."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 22 & 23

Hermione’s p.o.v

I ignore Draco’s pointed looks and fuss over Evangeline and little Scorpius. Evangeline was indulging Scorpius as they played with the superheroes figurines Draco had bought on a trip to muggle London.

“Look, daddy! Scopius fly hero!” The little boy cried.

“My isn’t he flying high!” Draco replied with a smile then whispered to me, “it’s flying almost as high as your lies.”

I give him the evil eye. “Enough Draco, you know I haven’t had time.”

He looked at me incredulously. “And you think you will when you’re teaching dunderheads? Please Hermione, at least have the guts to admit that you don’t want to do it.”

“I do want to do it,” I cry, “I just have…stuff.”

Draco snorted while removing Scorpius' sticky hands from his shirt. “Stuff, right, and I’m the muggle queen.”

“You'd make a horrible queen Malfoy!” I snap back.

“One," he holds a finger up, "I'd make a great Queen. Two, using my last name as a deflection? really? And three, I can and will call Keelan back."

My lips press together. Keelan had gone out with Neville to explore the Hogwarts fauna. "Good luck getting him away from his animals," I say instead. 

“You and I both know Keelan would drop everything for you and Eva. He's in love with you Hermione."

“Now who’s the one that’s lying?”

"Either we talk about Keelan or your complete refusal to go to a mind healer. And I’m more interested in your ‘secret’ admirer.”

I stand up and grab the empty snack tray. “How about neither? Besides Keelan knows that there could never be anything between us.”

The living room carpet was soft under my feet but it didn’t take away from the fact that we were in a territory we were better off staying out of. I place the tray in the table away from the kids' play area and refill it with the kid-friendly snacks the house elves had kindly provided.

Draco also stood up and helped refill Scorpius's sippy cup and grab Eva a new juice box. He looked at me seriously. “Are you sure about that? Because he looks at you like you hung the sun, the moon, and the stars.”

A cookie crumbles in my hand but I grab another one and try again. “Maybe I’m not ready. Maybe seeing my supposed best friends broke something in me, maybe I can’t give what I can barely share with my own daughter!”

“Mama?” Ask Evangeline in a quiet voice. “Are you okay?”

I turn back to her and smile. “Sorry we got a little loud sunshine but I’m fine, go back to playing.”

“But you’re crying. Don’t cry, Mama.” Scorpius was also looking at me, his action figures forgotten on the mat.

I look sadly at my daughter and wipe away the tears. “Don’t worry baby, something just fell in my eye.”

Evangeline rushed up to hug me. “You’re lying Mama. You’ve been crying more since we came to this country. And—and I know people say means things about you in the newspaper.”

There was a knife in my chest. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry you had to see that. It's not just kids, adults can be mean to each other too.”

“I’m sorry Mama! If I hadn’t wanted to come to Great Britain so badly then you wouldn’t be so sad!” I stare at her stunned. This is what Evangeline had buried inside? And I didn’t even know. But she wasn’t finished yet.

“I want to go home! I want to go back to Zimbabwe with Keelan or Australia with Grandma and Grandpa and Baba! I don’t like this place _!_ I wanna go! I wanna go! _I wanna go!”_

“NO!” Screamed Scorpius. “Eva no go! Eva no go!”

With two upset magical children, things quickly went from bad to worse. Together the two kids fed off each other’s bad mood and things began flying around and slamming into each other.

I immediately worried she could have another episode. “Evangeline calm down!” I said at the same time Draco tried to reassure his son, “Scorpius no one is going anywhere!”

“NO! I WANT TO LEAVE!” Evangeline shouted. Scorpius let out a piercing scream and the glassware started shattering.

I wipe my wand out and put a shield around the children and us. Things were quickly getting out of control (not that we had any, to begin with). We had to do something fast.

“EVANGELINE ENOUGH!”

Furniture stopped flying around. Scorpius halted mid-scream. And Evangeline burst into tears. Never had I raised my voice at my daughter and I felt awful at the look of pain in her eyes. She ran out of the room in tears before I could stop her.

I close my eyes and force myself to take a deep breath. I had already lost my temper with Evangeline, I didn’t want to lose it on Draco or Scorpius.

Draco stared unflinchingly at me. “Still think you don’t need help?” Scorpius burst into real tears before I could respond and Draco quickly picks him up and takes him away from the remaining chaos.

I drop to the floor and let out my own cries.

August 23, 2004

My fist hovered over the door. Evangeline had holed up in her room since her playdate with Scorpius ended so catastrophically. I knew she ate dinner and breakfast because I asked the house elves to bring her food but I couldn’t make myself check in on her myself.

Last night my dreams were all filled with her tear-streaked face. Tears that I had caused. I imagined her inside her room right now, hiding under the covers, wanting me to make things better but I couldn’t because I was the one that messed up.

_What do you give the woman that has everything?_

_Emotional stability._

I rasp my knuckles gently on the door. “Evangeline? I understand if you don’t want to talk to me. I wouldn’t want to talk to me either.” Tears gather in my eyes as I feel my daughter's pain as if it was my own. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you when all you were trying to do was make me feel better. And that’s not your job and it’s _my_ fault. You’re supposed to be a carefree child, I’m supposed to be the one who kisses your tears away and hug you to death when you’re sad.

“I’m going to change and be the parent that you deserve. So that you are free to be a kid. _So that we can be familia again_. I love you and I’m going to change so that we can both be happy.” I press a kiss to the door and leave.

Therapy wasn’t going to attend itself.

Harry’s p.o.v

I tilt my head. Then I tilt it the other way. Something was missing, something that would pull the whole thing together.

“Is everything to your liking Mr. Potter?”

I return to my senses and notice the team of renovating witches in my living room. “Forgive me, I was not paying attention.”

The assistant witch nodded. “Understandable given all the happenings in your life.”

I hold back a grimace and smile tightly. Thanks to the Prophet and the thrice-damned Skeeter the entirety of the country knew about my life falling apart while Hermione managed to get even more recognition since her appearance in the Charms journal.

“Yes,” I replied tersely, “in any case do any of you know what could be used to fill this wall?”

“Perhaps pictures of your family Mister Potter? It could be a tribute to what means most to you.” The witch answered.

“I’d like to volunteer for that job.” Whispered one of the girls.

“What’s that?” I snap. “You’d like to volunteer to get out of my house? Gladly. My house elf can show you out.”

The girl yelped at my rudeness and stormed out of the room. I flick my eyes back to the matron witch. “I will not allow for your employees to make a mockery of my life Mrs. Knoll.”

The witch bowed her head and glared at her assistant and remaining girl. “Of course Mr. Potter. I will have a word with Stella.”

“Make sure that you do,” I reply.

“If that will be all, we’ll be taking our leave, sir.” The other girls both bowed their heads and trailed after their boss. Outside I could hear Mrs. Knoll tearing a new one to the girls.

I waited for the sounds of the workers to apparate away before I let myself fall to the couch. I think back to all I had achieved in the past three days. I had the main entrance redone so it was smaller and less grand without being losing its touch of elegance. The sitting room, main dining room, and parlor we’re all de-glamourized. The family areas, however, got the bigger makeovers.

Ginny had not been keen on the idea of having a private side to the house preferring instead to welcome people to most aspects of our lives. I, on the other hand, accepted that I would have to share space with other people but my private dwellings were to remain just that – private.

I had two rooms built. A family game room, for the fun activities that couldn’t take place anywhere else, and the sitting room where I currently was laying. We would entertain guests in the ‘formal’ sitting room but this one would be just for me or more hopefully for us.

 _Evangeline_.

The daughter I had not known I had but magic knew. Oh, how magic _knew._ What I thought had been remnants of the war was actually my magic stretching and pulling to reconcile with Evangeline, to give her power where her own was lacking.

Would things have been different if I had been next to Hermione when Evangeline came into the world? Could my magic have been able to heal mother and child or even just stave off the symptoms?

There was no focusing on the past, however. This is the now and all we can do is live with the result of our decisions and move on.

“Miss Lovegood to see you, Master.”

I sit up. “Luna is here?”

“Yes, Master. She bring little Miss Evangeline with her.”

I scramble to get to my feet and out the door, “Kreacher bring snacks back and vanish anything that seems out of place please.”

“Yes, Master.” Answered the old elf.

I stop in front of a mirror and tidy myself off. This would be my third time meeting my daughter, I had to make a better impression than the first two.

I give the two females a warm smile. “I wasn’t expecting visitors but I think I like this surprise.”

“O pai!”

* * *

**Daily Prophet**

**Weasley Fallout!**

If you’ve been keeping up with the news recently then you’ve heard all about the return of the not-so-Golden princess, Hermione Granger, and the effect her presence has brought. In the latest of the drama, the Weasley family has been the one to suffer the consequences of the muggleborn’s insipid return. Holyhead Harpies’ first chaser Ginevra Molly Weasley knows this best. Because of the controversial (but still true) interview given by her brother, Ronald Billus Weasley, the Harpies are being denied entrance into several countries until the Weasley family offers a formal apology to the ex-war heroine herself.

“Zit’s a disgrace zhat the Weasleys would zry zo accuse Mistress Granger of such a horrific and false accusation. Here in France, we ztand by our citizens even those that are abroad, and until an apology is made no Weasley will play in our stadiums.”

Miss Granger has suspiciously not been available for comments.

* * *

Whispers followed the trio of redheads. The oldest one was used to being talked to behind his back for years. The middle tried to ignore what was said about him and the third fumed silently at the distrustful looks from his coworkers.

“She slighted him. That’s why he’s dragging her name through the mud.”

“I heard that the other Aurors are thinking twice about what they say around him. Just look at what he did when he got drunk!”

“Forget the regular corps. The Werewolves are not happy their heroine is being abused like that.”

“But after all she did? She both abandoned us _and_ cheated on both her best friends.”

“How dare you! I was on her security detail when she was in Germany and I can tell you that Hermione Granger is the most inspiring person you’ll ever meet. If you have nothing better to share than gossip then maybe you should get back to work.”

* * *

**Skeeter Who?**

London Times (Magic Edition.)

If you’ve never heard of Rita Skeeter consider yourself lucky. If Gilderoy Lockhart was the Master liar of books then Miss Skeeter is the current queen of “creative” journalism.

Everyone and their estranged mother-in-law have heard of the dark reign of Dark Lord Voldemort. Countless stories and articles have been published and even now, six years later, the scars of his control over the British isles is still felt – but not in the way you would think.

While the rest of the world was singing Mistress Granger her well-deserved praises (for a list of her contributions read our 06/19/03 edition) Miss Skeeter was hard at work destroying the reputation of war heroine and world-renown Charms and Potions Mistress Hermione Granger in Great Britain. Titles like ‘An Abandoned Country Asks: Where is Miss Granger?’ and ‘Helping” Werewolves? More Like Golden Girl Betrayal!’ kept reminding readers about the war and the consequent ‘abandoning’ of the country that raised and turned her into a soldier years before her age. 

Now, this writer asks, how is this normal? Why does a fifty-odd woman have such resentment against a young lady who’s biggest crime is wanting to protect her then unborn child? When a single woman could turn an entire nation against one of its crowning jewels with no shred of proof or even reason one wonders if this is the face of Great Britain.

If we’re taught as children never to trust something if you can’t see where its brain is then why would a populace like the British wizarding men and women believe a woman who refuses to cite even her sources?

It is the opinion of this writer that until Miss Skeeter can come up with factual and verified proof of her many public claims we ask ourselves, Skeeter who?


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 23, 2004

Harry’s p.o.v

I catch the mini bullet and hoist her up on my hip. “Hello, Bichette.” I look at her guardian. “Luna.”

She smiled softly. “How are you, Harry?”

“Hitting myself on the head for thinking that renovating was easy.” I gesture to the food. “Can I offer you girls something to drink or eat?”

“Apple juice!” Eva yelled.

“Then apple juice you shall have bichette. And you Luna?”

“Tea or pumpkin juice will suffice.”

I chuckle and say, “then it’s a good thing we have both. Any preference as to which?”

“Tea please,” Luna answered.

“Tea it is.”

I also serve myself a cup and extend both drinks to their recipients. “What brings you ladies here?”

“Thought we pop over for a visit and to deliver these.” Luna pulls out a stack of letters. “They’re letters from Hermione to Evangeline for when she’s older.”

I grab the letters. It was a big stack but it was all shrunken. “Evangeline told me about the ones Hermione wrote to me but not these.” I finger through the envelopes and feel happiness at the piece of Hermione I hold in my hands.

“The letters Hermione wrote to you are more of a diary for her. Technically they would belong to you as the recipient but I think Hermione has to give those to you herself.”

I look at the blonde woman that had grown so different from the fourteen-year-old I had met nearly a decade ago. “Thank you, Luna.” And I was grateful, sincerely so.

On the other side of the room, Kreacher was having the time of his life entertaining Evangeline to her heart's content. In the short time Luna and I had been talking, the two had amassed a selection of kid-friendly books. It hit me then that Kreacher must still miss Regulus and wanted to keep his memory — and the Black Family legacy— alive through Eva.

Eva looked up and I send her a beaming smile and an air kiss. She smiled back and “caught” the kiss.

“Eva is a good girl. She rarely gives us any trouble and — she’s wanted to meet you for so _long_ Harry.”

I jump in my seat and turn back to Luna. “I thought she hated me.”

Luna shakes her head sadly. “No, no, Harry. Never think that. Evangeline loves you. She’s loved you since she first heard about you.”

“I thought Hermione hates me why would Evangeline…”

“Love you?” Luna answered. “Because Hermione doesn’t hate you. She can feel many things against you but I don’t think hate was even a thought in her mind.”

“I abandoned her,” I whisper, “I knew she needed me but I didn’t even try to go to her.”

Luna reaches for my hand and squeezed. “Hermione won’t tell you this but deep down she’s happy you weren’t there. She didn’t want you to hate her if Eva didn’t make it.”

I look down at my lap. “I don’t hate her. I can never hate her.”

“Are you sure?”

“I- of course, I don’t!” I snap.

Luna intertwines our fingers so I can’t let go. “No one would blame you if you do. We should have told you, Harry. If anyone of us had had the guts to just talk to you.

“It wasn’t like you were an abusive boyfriend or would have forced her to have an abortion. You were her _best friend_ but we were kids out of a war that shouldn’t have happened. We were all fucked up and for that I’m _sorry. I’m so fucking sorry Harry._

 _“_ I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about Evangeline. I’m sorry we hid Hermione’s location when you asked us about her that day. I’m sorry you never knew that Hermione and Evangeline’s lives were in danger. But mostly I’m sorry for all the time you lost with your daughter.”

Tear blur my glasses and I grip Luna’s hand harder. “When I yelled at Hermione after the dinner it felt so right like I was justified in my anger and I was. Because you all hid my daughter from me but after Arthur kicked me out of the burrow I realized something: we were just _children_. All of us. We did things that no one should have to and it screwed us all over. That’s why I can’t hate Hermione or any of you. Because we were screwed up kids grasping at straws trying to be normal again.” I choke out.

Neither of us said a word for a moment but the silence was okay. I felt like we were healing. Together.

“Arthur slapped me you know?”

“Sweet Arthur who couldn't hurt a fly!?”

“Yeah.” A moment passed. “It was awesome.” We laughed like kids we never got to be and received weird looks from Evangeline.

Hermione’s p.o.v

I fiddle with my shirt before stopping and fiddling with my hair. Then I stopped and went back to my skirt. It had been a vicious cycle I had started as soon as the doctor called me into her office. I had been in there for ten minutes and neither had said anything yet.

“Why don’t we start with names?”

“Mistress Hermione Granger,” I answer automatically as if I was in an interview. Now there’s a thought. If I treat this as an interview…

The doctor pauses and swallows. “Okay… I am Doctor Mackenzie McDouglas. Would you mind telling me why Mistress? I’m sorry if the question bothers you, I’m simply curious.”

That’s right. Non-magicals have a different connotation for mistress. “In my…circles… a woman who gets a mastery in her field is referred to as Mistress so-and-so just like a man would be called Master so-and-so.”

She noted that down and looked back at me. “Is that you’re preferred way of being referred to?”

I wave off her platitudes. “No, no, please just call me…Hermione.”

“Alright, Hermione. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself? Anything you want.”

“Isn’t that all in my file?” I ask.

“It is but I find that having patients talk about themselves is a better way to create the connection I need to help you.” The doctor answers swiftly.

“I- alright.” I take a breath in and begin, “I have a daughter. She’s the only thing that matters to me. She’s the reason why I’m here.”

“Did she force you to come?”

“No, I’m doing it because I want to be a good mother to her. She’s six you know? It was her birthday last week.”

“That’s good. Do you want to tell me more about her?”

I start gushing about Evangeline. She was the only thing I could talk about without feeling any pain. “Oh, she’s the most beautiful child ever. When she smiles it’s like the whole world lights up. She was a preemie so she’s a little on the small side but you wouldn’t know it from the way she acts. She’s like a miniature me except she likes playing outside and is more outgoing than me. I’ve taken her around the entire world and she’s made friends in every single one of our stops. She even keeps contact with some of them.”

“Sound like she’s a precocious child.”

“She is. Eva is the best mix of me and—” I cut myself off before I can continue talking about Harry.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to talk about Eva’s father? Was he abusive or controlling?” The doctor asks worriedly.

“No!” I continue more calmly, “no, he’s the best man a woman can ask for. He was my best friend before I-I messed it up. I messed _us_ up.”

“Do you want to talk about him?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.”

“Are you willing to try?”

I shake my head and throw my head into my hands. I was willing to talk about anything but the war and Harry. The war was horrible but Harry…

“He was my everything.” It takes me a moment to realize I’d spoken the words aloud.

“Who was?” Dr. McDouglas asked.

“Eva’s father. Before Eva was born.”

“Then what changed?”

“Everything.”

“Could you expand on that?” She had so many questions. Why did she only have questions? Why wasn’t she helping me instead of asking these questions?

“We had just finished fighting a war before I discovered that I was pregnant. We had only been together that one time and with such harsh conditions, it didn’t occur to me that I could even get pregnant. I tried telling him but he cut me off and I didn’t try further and I just…left. Left and didn’t turn back.

“When I needed him he wasn’t there. After all, I had done for me he just didn’t...care _.”_ The last part tears a cry out of me. “He didn’t _care._ ”

The doctor tried to hide it but I saw the pity in her eyes. A girl pregnant and abandoned by the baby’s father.

“How do you know?” McDouglas asked softly.

“Because when my friend sent him a message saying that I needed him he ignored it and went on with his life. It was Eva’s birth that he missed."

“Did he know it was his daughter’s birth that he missed?”

“No, but wasn’t it enough that he knew that I needed him? Why wasn’t I enough?”

Instead of answering the doctor just let me get it all out.

“I know I’m wrong to put all the blame on him. He was just as fucked up as any of us— no he was worse. He never had a family to show him what affection looked like, year after year the war kept getting worse. We asked and asked and kept on asking and never once did I think about what he needed.” I pause. “No, that’s a lie. I knew exactly what he needed to survive and see the war through, but I never gave him what he _wanted_. A family, stability, freedom to be himself. And when he did have it I turned my daughter against him. How can he not hate me? I hate myself!”

“Have you thought that maybe he understands?”

“No, he doesn’t. He just buries his feelings and pretends everything is alright for the sake of everyone else. I just want him to scream at me, it’s no less than I deserve.”

“You keep saying that. Why do you think you deserve to be screamed that? Why do you keep putting your own feelings down?”

“BECAUSE I’M A BAD MOTHER! Because I couldn’t protect myself and let my daughter get tortured. Because when it mattered I kept my mouth shut and let everyone talk down to me just so that I could do more to help my daughter recover and so that when I went back to England I wouldn’t be a fucked up girl weighed down by her years of failure. But even there I fell flat. I am a failure. It’s all I’ll ever be.”

Instead of responding to that, the doctor switched gears. “Why did you leave?”

“Because I wasn’t good enough to for him then and I’m not good enough for him now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify a bit: when Hermione says she's talked down on she means letting people talk to her like she was inferior to them to get the funding she needed for her research. Hermione sacrificing her sense of worth for her daughter is a no brainer for her.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 23, 2004

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Hermione talks about suicide. She's not in the best state of mind right now but she is working on it. You have been warned.

Hermione's p.o.v

I wipe my tears off again. I was tired of crying. Of being in the Black Lake, drowning no matter how hard I tried to swim to the surface.

_"Hermione, have you ever wanted to kill yourself?"_

How can you tell someone that sometimes you hate your own daughter? That looking at her hurts every day but not having her close you kills you slowly?

_"Hermione, have you ever wanted to kill yourself?"_

How can I stand to look at myself when all I ever see is a liar staring back at me? I'm not the woman in the mirror. I'm not this amazing person out to save the world. I'm just a failure trying to do her best to make up for all her mistakes.

I'm just a little girl trying to fit into shoes too big for me.

_"Hermione, have you ever wanted to kill yourself?"_

_"Hermione, have you ever wanted to kill yourself?"_

_"Hermione, have you ever wanted to kill yourself?"_

Yes. Every moment of my life for the past eight years.

Ginny's p.o.v

It was like we were back in Hogwarts. Three people in the It group and I was on the outside hoping to peek in.

Hermione's brat hung to Luna's skirt, hiding away from the stares even as she spoke to Harry. Tom waved them through when he noticed them, "You lot eating or just passing through?"

"Just passing through Tom. We're taking a short walk through the Alley." Harry answered.

Most of the patrons were paying rapt attention to the trio like the gossip-hungry nifflers they were and those that weren't, waited for me to react to their presence.

Calmly I take a sip of my butterbeer.

I refused to give them the satisfaction.

I refused to make a fool of myself as Ron did.

When they passed next to me, I only nod. "Hello Luna, Harry," I side-eye the brat. "Nice to see you looking better Evangeline."

The little girl nodded and I could admit, even if only to myself, that she might have been cute if she weren't Hermione Granger's daughter. I would have done a better job of being her mother and the girl wouldn't be so _broken_.

Luna gave me her own side look and pulls the little girl closer to her. She wasn't stupid. Luna knew that anyone who saw the girl's eyes could see that she was Harry's and Granger's and Great Britain hadn't been happy with their Golden Girl in years. Not to mention Evangeline was a howler to the world that Harry Potter was no longer mine alone.

Luna nods and answers for the group. "Nice to see you too Ginny. If you'll excuse us."

The trio was going to walk away and I knew this was my chance to fight for Harry and redeem myself to the Quidditch world. "Luna wait please."

"I believe Ron made his thoughts on Hermione clear Ginny," she snapped.

I grit my teeth but lower my head. Luna was right to snap in these circumstances but we were friends once too damn her. Couldn't she cut me some slack?

Harry grabbed her shoulder. "Luna stop. We're in public." He murmured glancing warily at everyone staring at us.

"I know Luna. That's why I want to apologize. Ron was out of line talking about Hermione that way."

Luna scoffed. "Please, we both know what you really think about Hermione."

"And I won't even try to deny it." I shoot back. "Hermione left us Luna, not the other way around. But just because I'm still furious that she left doesn't mean they deserve to be dragged into the mud by the likes of Skeeter."

"As if you actually give a damn. You're just here because the Harpies aren't allowed to enter France."

I lift my chin at the accusations. She wasn't wrong. I could care less about _her._ But I loved being seen as a public image because of my own merits. I would not let Granger taint my fame. "Think what you will Luna, but Evangeline doesn't deserve to be punished for her parents' sins. She's still Harry Potter's daughter."

Patrons nodded with me and began muttering in agreement. Evangeline might be Granger'sbut she was still the daughter of the Boy-Who-Lived and no Brit would mess with that legacy.

Harry grabbed Luna and steered her and the brat away with him. "Thank you for your apology, Ginny, I'll be sure to pass it along. Send my regards to your father." He dragged them both outside the bar and I sit back down into my seat. Harry had clenched his jaw when I mentioned his fame. I had messed up but I could still gain some good press from defending Evangeline and only throwing Granger under the bus because of her disappearance. Let the people think my anger steamed from abandonment issues. For now, that would have to be enough.

Harry's p.o.v

I steer the two away from the Leaky Cauldron. I would need to start avoiding the bar again if every time I so much as stepped through there someone would bring up my "status" as the hero of Great Britain again.

Luna pursed her lips. "I'm sorry you had to see that Harry. I know you love Ginny."

I shake my head. "I don't even know what to think of this latest piece of drama in my life. I'm unpacking today's' bit later. Right now I would like to spend some time with my daughter."

Evangeline raises her arms to be carried. "Up. I want to see _everything_ o pai."

I swing her up to sit on my shoulders. "Then you'll see everything from the best vantage point I can give you."

Eva gasped in delight. "You're taking me _flying_!?"

I try not to smile. "Err- maybe when you're older." And when your mother won't try to kill me.

Luna laughs like she knew what I was thinking. "Hermione is afraid of flying so definitely when you're older Eva."

Eva huffs. "How much older? I'm six now!"

"Hogwarts age older," I answer. That had to be a safe answer right? Everyone officially learned to ride a broom at eleven.

"But what if I don't go to Hogwarts?"

I laugh. "Your mum is Hogwarts' best student and I'm kind of a celebrity myself. You're going to Hogwarts."

Luna's face flushes a bit and she started fidgeting. "Actually... Evangeline kinda has her choice of school. Any school around the world would be happy to accept her. It's just a matter of where Eva wants to go."

That's right, I think to myself. It was hard to remember Hermione went and made a name of herself around the globe. If the magical world had a Nobel prize, Hermione would have been in every category and won them all. What school would be stupid enough to reject her daughter?

Meanwhile, the only pull I have is Great Britain, and only because I have the shittiest luck in history. What can I offer compared to Hermione who can give our daughter the world?

"Faster o pai! Faster!"

" _Don't focus on the negatives. Think about all the positive things you can influence."_

Maybe I can give my daughter a little bit of happiness?

* * *

August 23, 2004

Noticia Catalanes

Opinion piece by Júan Fernandez

International outrage continues as Great Britain continues its mud campaign against its Charms and Potions Mistress Hermione Granger. Mistress Granger is renowned on the international stage for her work in communications and Baneswolf, the cure for lycanthropy. And yet regardless of her work bringing people closer together, Great Britain continues to baffle me with the continued degradation of their most valuable asset, yes, even more, valuable than their personal superhero Harry Potter. (And not to doubt Lord Potter or anything, he did save Great Britain from the Dark Lord Voldemort.) But regardless of who can be considered more important to the British people, I can not state my confusion enough. Take away her accomplishments, her reputation abroad, and Hermione Granger is still one of the most important names in the British community. While an entire country hid from a (decidedly insane) megalomaniac, it was mostly children who fought for the country's freedom. So why on God's green Earth is Great Britain attacking its own heroine? The same heroine who even Harry Potter himself says he owes his win to?

Is it her magical parentage? Is it her French heritage? Is it the fact that's she's a woman?

Whatever it may be I'm sure I'm joined by many readers when I ask: what the hell Great Britain?

Is this how the Brits thank their heroes if they're not picture perfect? Even the late Supreme Mugwump, Albus Dumbledore was derided In the years after Lord Potter re-entered the magical world. And death hasn't stopped their irrational dislike of their former leader.

But I digress. Great Britain doesn't want Mistress Granger? That's fine. Spain will take her. So Mistress Granger, if you're reading this, hit me up on my portable floo, we'll communicate with your translation charm, and me and my former werewolves pals will help you move to the most beautiful city the Mediterranean can offer.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 26, 2004

Harry's p.o.v

"Harry."

My hands clenched my hair. It wasn't the first time they did that today. "I know!" I yell. "I know but I'm still so angry!"

The doctor's office was a calming blue but it might as well have been Gryffindor red for all the fury I felt.

"It's okay to be angry Harry, as long as you don't put yourself or others in danger," Dr. McDouglas replied. "Could you tell me what you're angry at?"

"Everything!"

The doc nodded and wrote some things down. "And what exactly does that include?"

"I-I..."

The doc closed her notebook and stood up, grabbing something from her drawer on her way. "We need to understand what you are angry about Harry. There's so much anger that's been buried, it's all become tangled up and you don't know how to express it. It might even be possible that this is what keeps you from finding 'Just Harry'." She stood up and extended her hand to me; in it was a brown journal.

"I want you to write down everything that makes you angry. Doesn't matter what it is. Waiting in line for coffee, the telly not having your favorite show, even the color of the sky. If you're sad write it down, if you're scared write it down. Anything that makes you feel something, I want you to write it down.

"You don't have to show it to me or anyone else, but knowing what gets through the famous persona will let you know what makes 'Just Harry' tick."

I grabbed the journal. The last journal I'd held was Tom's Horcrux. At least this one was brown. And made with synthetic leather. "Will it actually work?" I ask.

The doctor smiles. "For some it does. For others, it can be frustrating but we'll never know unless we try it. You said you don't have a lot of close friends. I think this," she taps the journal, "could help you express yourself when you feel you're screaming into the void and not getting any answers."

I flipped the journal in my hands. It was man-made paper, not parchment. And it was spiral, not bound leather. "I'll try it then."

"Good."

"Can I decorate it?"

"However you want to."

Astoria's p.o.v

I stared at the gift basket. Then at the woman standing on my doorstep. Then at the gift basket again.

Granger stood in front of my door looking just as confused as I did.

"What did Draco do now?" I ask her.

"It's more of what I did actually."

I open the door wider. "Head straight then take a left. He's in the living room."

Granger stepped into the house and looked at me one more time before following my directions.

You leave the country for a week and the Golden Trio break up, your son makes a new friend, and your husband's schoolboy crush/archenemy shows up at your house.

"I'm buying a damn portable floo," I muttered to myself.

I moved into the kitchen and grabbed the tea set from a house elf's hands. Might as well figure out what I missed.

I stayed outside the living room while the two started talking.

"- I can always buy another one. Or pick something else if that buys your forgiveness," I hear Granger say.

"What in damnation is that Granger?" Draco responds.

"It's an 'I'm-sorry-I-was-a-total-Witch-with-a-capital-B' gift basket."

A what?

"Yeah; no. I'm not accepting that."

"Why on God's green are you saying no?"

"I thought you couldn't take your God's name in vain."

"Draco," she warned.

I stepped inside before she could start hexing. "I bring tea and confusion. Could someone explain why Draco's schoolboy crush is in our house?"

Hermione looks at me all confused but smiles as Draco started blushing.

"Schoolboy crush?"

Draco glares at me then at Hermione. "Well, you were passably pretty and powerful, so just shut up."

Hermione starts smirking more. "No, please! I want to hear more about this crush of yours."

Draco glared. "I will end you, Granger."

Setting the tea set down I sit opposite to Granger. "We can embarrass Draco later. I want to know what on earth I missed this week."

Draco sighs and sits back down. "Hermione, this is my wife Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass. Astoria, clearly you remember Hermione."

I smirked. "Clearly."

"A pleasure to meet you Astoria." To Draco she says, "how did you get so lucky? She's too good for you."

Draco slumps in his seat. "This is why I didn't want to introduce you two."

I poked him. "Explanation please." I poked him again.

"Stop poking me, woman!"

"Start talking then." Poke.

"I exploded on him and Scorpius."

"I pushed you too far Granger, I'm not taking anything personally when you're like this."

"You mean while I'm mentally and emotionally unstable?" She shrugs when Draco stares at her. "I'm woman enough to admit I'm not okay Draco."

"Wow", I say, "that explained exactly nothing."

Hermione sighed. "It all started when I came back. People aren't happy with my disappearing act and combined with my mental weakness-"

Draco cuts her off. "You're not mentally weak."

Hermione gives him a look. "...and combined with my mental state at the time, I was not in a good place." She continued, "Malfoy helped me, we became friends, I screwed up and here we are."

I was still in the dark about a lot of things, that explanation was too brief to tell me the itty bitty details but I had a Plan.

I stood up and grabbed Hermione. "We're going out and you can tell me what happened. It sounds like you need a woman's ear that is unrelated to the problem."

I pulled her out of the room with me. "We just met!"

"Nothing creates friendships faster than spending money and eating our feelings!"

"At least let me grab my cloak!"

I wave her concerns away. "We won't need it," I tell her.

"Draco!"

"Bye Granger! Keep her from shopping us out of a house won't you?"

I threw floo powder into the fire. "Couturière de l'île." I pushed Hermione in and stepped in after her.

We landed in the heart of magical Paris in one of the most expensive clothiers. We're greeted by an array of staff, clients, and fabric flying all around.

"Astoria what the hell?" Hermione hisses in my ear, "I can't just floo outside the country!"

"Oh please, you're Hermione Granger. You can go as you please," I replied.

"No, I can't. I have a daughter!"

"You have a what!?"

My question seems to calm her down a bit. "I have a daughter. The whole country just found out."

I gape at her. "Just what the hell did I miss?"

"How do you not know? Where the hell have you been?"

"Where have I-? I was in Australia for M.I business!"

"I thought Draco was in charge of Malfoy Industries?" Hermione asked.

I waved the thought away. "No, Draco's studying psychology actually. But let's go back to you having a daughter. Who's the father? Why haven't we heard anything? What kind of rock did I live under that I missed this piece of news?"

"You really don't know anything," Hermione said with surprise. "I thought Draco hadn't told you about me because of my mental breakdown."

"You had a what now? You know what? Don't answer that. This requires wine."

I grabbed her hand this time and pulled her gently out of the store.

"I know we haven't talked before but I would really like to be your friend. I don't have many of those," I said; "The Slytherins all do try to keep out of each other's way to avoid suspicion, and the other Houses tend to avoid Draco and me at all costs."

Hermione stared at me for a moment but then wrapped her fingers around mine and smiled. "Oh, what the hell. We're already here, might as well make the best of it."

"That's the spirit!"

We walked out of the store hand in hand and started looking for a suitable drinking spot.

Keelan's p.o.v

"This is a beautiful day Lolly! Have the elves prepare Hermione's favorites and tell Momo to gather our best flowers. I want them to adorn every inch of the house!"

I look up from my reading. Neville was in a really good mood. "May I ask about this sudden euphoria of yours?"

Neville turns beaming at me. "Hermione's finally getting the help she deserves. What's not to be happy about?"

I smile too. I set down my book and give the Assistant professor my full attention. "That is good news! Imagine how much happier she'll be when she can unburden herself."

Neville began to frown. "Her problems are not a burden."

"You misunderstand. Hermione's problems are real but we're all too close to the problem, have too much interest in them, that we can't give her the support she needs to let everything out.

"When she's with us, Hermione feels this need to reach this unattainable image she thinks we have of her. She has to be "quote-unquote", I make the air quotes, "perfect."

"Hermione has always been a perfectionist." Neville tries to defend.

"Grabbing tea with a friend shouldn't be an all or nothing proposition," I replied.

I see some of the happiness leave him as the truth sets in. "I know you're right. I just wish I could solve all these problems for her."

"Hermione must walk her own path, Neville."

He gives me a wry smile. "Stop being so good at calming people down. We're all going to come short when you leave otherwise."

I give a chuckle. "I'm sure you'll survive."

Neville gives a dramatic sigh. "With great hardship perhaps; but we will survive."

* * *

Dear Headmistress McGonagall,

My name is Master Keelan Azikiwe. I am writing to you in regard of a possible research opportunity with the centaur tribe that resides in the Forbidden Forest...of course I understand I must also ask the Scutum tribe for permission to access their lands...

...access to the library would be helpful for research purposes...

...more than willing to perform guest lectures this upcoming school year...

I have published works in Journals like...

...free of charge...outside arrangements...

...references include... Mistress Hermione Granger, a close friend of mine coupled with Master Doniscous of South Africa...

I understand that it is late to ask but I would ask that you would still consider my request.

Kind regards,

Keelan Azikiwe

Master Magizoologist

Congo Basin Head of Magical Habitat Conservation

Head of Zimbabwean Nundu Conservation


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 26, 2004 (evening)

Draco's p.o.v

I look up as two very giggly women stepped out of the fireplace. Both brunettes were holding each other up and by the number of bags they had, I knew the Malfoy fortune had taken a hit – again.

"Please tell me we at least have enough funds for Scorpius' Hogwarts tuition." I plead with my tipsy wife.

Astoria untangled herself from Hermione and shuffled over to me laughing. "Relax darling, we didn't go crazy. If anything we got an amazing deal."

"Oh, Merlin what did you do?"

"Matching family outfits!" Hermione exclaims.

I look at them dumbfounded. "What?"

"It's the cutest thing Draco." Astoria gushes. "We're not just coordinating colors, we're wearing the same clothes. We'll look adorkable."

"That's not a word," I correct automatically. "And we can't wear the same clothes. They don't sell kids clothes in adult sizes."

"They do in the muggle world! Mia told me about them and I just had to get a set tailored for us."

I could imagine us going out in ridiculous outfits. A strangled why followed.

Hermione thanked an elf who brought her a glass of water and waved at me to sit. "Trust me it looks better than whatever you're thinking of. Eva and I do it all the time and it's the cutest thing."

I pull Astoria down into sitting with me. "And when exactly are we supposed to wear this wonderful gift?"

Hermione smirks. "Gifts, plural, and any time you need some good publicity. Starting," here Hermione reached into her pocket and pulls out an invitation, "with joining me and Eva for a picnic in Dartmoor. It's a perfect mix of muggle and magical and our pictures will definitely make the front page, if that's what you want of course!" She adds the last part hurriedly.

I laugh. "I'm a Malfoy Granger, I was raised in the spotlight."

"Good otherwise this would be an awkward silence since I already agreed."

"Astoria!"

"Please as if you would say no. We're both snakes, we'd never miss out on this opportunity."

I start to spluttering. "Maybe not but you could let me know in advance!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hermione with a soft smile. It really hit me then that I hadn't seen real happiness in her since she stepped back into the British social scene.

She stood up. "Well, I'm leaving. You two are getting disgustingly sweet and I have enough of that with Luna and Neville. I'll see you both on Sunday."

"Bye Hermione."

"Goodbye!" Astoria almost jumped off the couch.

"Astoria please-"

Luna's p.o.v

'Marriage is between two people and their family. Marriage is between two people and their families. Marriage is-'

"Luna dear are you paying attention?"

I give great cousin Margaret a smile. "Sorry, Margaret. I was thinking about..." Neville gives me a look and taps his wand against the vase. "...flowers and which colors would attract Migleburgs. They bring such good luck you know?"

Great cousin Margaret gives me a tight smile and I knew she'd be upset with me once again. She highly disapproves of me and my relationship with Neville. She also disliked Neville till he came into his own so her opinion was invalid.

"That's nice dear but-"

"But seeing as we're marrying each other I should pick together with Neville great cousin. You're so right cousin Margaret after all, it'll be _our_ day after all." Here I gave Neville's cousins a sharp smile of my own.

We were surrounded by family and as always the topic seemed to revolve around our upcoming (but not yet official) nuptials. Being a blood purist was out but getting your nose in someone else's business was not.

The older generation wanted their heir and spare running around sooner rather than later especially with more Families having kids thanks to the post-war baby boom. It wouldn't hurt them either to secure the Longbottom line for another generation to come and thereby secure themselves for another generation.

"Let them be Margaret. These two will come together when magic thinks it's right and if they want to plan their own wedding in their own time, they can do that too." Lady Gusta cut in.

"But great aunt Augusta. It's improper. She's been living in the main house without being married." Another cousin said.

"Maybe but not as improper as sticking your nose in business that doesn't concern you. Besides if they are sleeping together, doesn't that mean that the heir you want is closer every day?"

Multiple aunts and cousins gasp at Hermione's crude words. Neville has already turned back to speaking with the men but there was no mistaking the slight shake in his shoulders.

"How dare you be so crude in front of the matriarch!"

Hermione raises an eyebrow. "I wasn't the first one to talk about what's going on beneath the sheets. I just happened to go the direct route. And a good day to you Lady Augusta."

"Welcome, Hermione. I hope your travels went well."

"They did," Hermione answered as she sat close to the Longbottom Matriarch. Certainly closer than many family members would have. "I met Astoria Greengrass and now I'm wondering how Draco managed to snag such a beautiful wife."

Lady Gusta smiles. "I always did wonder."

"I can answer that for you." Hermione leaned in like she was going to whisper. "She's the one who wears the pants in that relationship."

"Could have told you that one girl. Astoria is just like her Great aunt, a force of nature in a tiny body."

Truly there was nothing better than seeing the shocked and disbelieving faces of the older generations when they meet Hermione Granger in person. Something about Hermione rubbed them the wrong way and I enjoyed seeing their reactions.

"I for one cannot believe you associate with the Malfoys. That entire family is rotten. Mark my words, that son of theirs will be just as rotten as his father and grandfather." Cousin Annie stated, sure that her words would become reality.

"Yes," I reply, "like how Howard is a drunkard just like his father. And his grandfather. And his great grandfather. Somethings just run in the family."

Annie stiffened as we all turned to look at the visibly drunk Howard Longbottom, Neville's 2nd cousin once removed, and Annie's husband.

"And we all know character faults don't matter if your wallet is big enough," Hermione adds as the final nail to that particular coffin.

"Howard might follow in his family's...footsteps but being an excitable drunk is not the same as being a murderer." She tried to defend.

"Purposeful murderer you mean. One gets away with a lot when you can claim being drunk." A different cousin adds.

Even Hermione's eyes widen at that. Merlin no one in this family liked each other, did they?

Things noticeably quiet down on the women's side with that comment laying about.

A heavy and unwashed body slams down next to me. "Bah! Are you womenfolk finally done with your wedding talk?"

"They're women Marty. Babies and wedding 'tis all they can talk about." Another man adds as he stomps to our side.

Grand uncles. Bringing all their 19th-century opinions with them.

Neville stands up and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Actually it's babies, weddings, and destroying the patriarchy. Now if you'll excuse them, my Luna and Hermione have to start packing for Hogwarts."

I stand, grateful to have a reason to get away from all the harpies, sexists, and sexist harpies. "Good evening to you all. It's been great to see you."

"Yes, this visit has been very informative."

"And while they walk out allow me to explain to you what will happen to the next person who talks shit about my girlfriend."

Hermione and I walk inside hand-in-hand as Neville chews out the people who tried to give us a hard time.

Hermione let out a breath when we were out of sight. "Merlin's saggy beard they get worse with each visit."

I nod. "And you've only really met them on vacation. One thing I'm excited about the wedding will be cutting out most of those relatives from the immediate family."

Hermione's eyes brighten with mirth. "That's right. The main Family only goes back to three generations."

"Yes and since Lady Augusta is still the matriarch until we marry, family gatherings include way too many cousins who have nothing to do with the main Family."

"Do they even realize that when you marry Neville they'll effectively lose access to the Longbottom fortune?" Hermione asks.

I give Hermione a look. "Of course they do it's why they keep trying to isolate me so much and keep trying to replace me with a more "appropriate" cousin."

"There is so much to unpack there."

"Don't, it's not worth the effort," I warn her.

She gives me a look. "...okay then. Moving on."

Instead of focusing on my nuptials or the Longbottom House dynamics, we spend our time walking from the formal garden to the main house talking about her spontaneous trip to Paris.

"Astoria has always been a kind if a little out of touch with the social scene."

Hermione snorts. "Pot, kettle."

"Between Lovegood business, starting a school, and searching for extraordinary creatures, I'm surprised I even had time for Eva," I explain.

We finally reach Hermione's room. It was organized chaos as she had started to pack away their things. Hermione would start moving things into her Hogwarts' apartment tomorrow and use Monday and Tuesday to get her classroom ready for classes to start Thursday morning.

A lot of the packing had been done. Only clothing had been unpacked after they had arrived from Germany, preferring to keep furniture and other items tucked away until the duo could settle in for the long term. Now only books and notebooks had to be packed. Clothing and random experiments would leave with her on Monday.

I grab a set of books and tuck them into a trunk labeled books. "Your room is a disaster but I'm going to miss seeing this place be lived in."

Hermione lets out a soft chuckle. "We'll be back on the weekends. Maybe more if you can fit Eva's tutoring into your "busy" schedule."

Oh? "You're not enrolling her in muggle school?"

"I am. I just thought you'd want to spend more time with your favorite niece while I'm...busy." She said gathering some scrolls into her arms.

My gaze softens then. "I can pick her up. Help with homework and all that."

"You can also reach out to Bill and George. Even if you can't officially call it a school I know they would be happy to get some educational help."

"It could be like how Molly taught me and the Weasley kids before we went to Hogwarts."

"You can get the experience now of handling a classroom full of chaotic children and in a few months you'll be getting paid for handling the overexcited brats." She jokes.

"Is Eva included in that?"

"She'd be the head of the pack!"

We both burst out laughing. Hermione's laugh was still a beautiful thing even if her full belly laughs were less frequent.

We worked in silence for a few minutes. Evangeline was spending the day with Victoire allowing Hermione to pack her professional items without having a child underfoot. She has been talking everyone's ear off about Harry (everyone except her mother who asked not to be informed to focus on her mental health). It was always Harry this and Harry that. He had become her very own superhero. And it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a war hero.

"You can ask." I look at Hermione. "About whatever your thinking, you can ask. I promise I won't get upset."

"I was just thinking about Eva but...are you really okay with her being around Harry?"

Hermione's face went through the typical range of emotions when Harry was mentioned. "Yes." She ran a hand through her hair, a nervous tick she could seem to get rid of. "Don't get me wrong I still feel...things about the whole situation but he's her father and their relationship shouldn't be dictated by my personal problems."

"That's quite the turnaround." For someone who had been unconsciously adamant about keeping them apart.

"It's only been two sessions so far but the doctor recommends separating my personal issues with Harry from their relationship. It's been...hard. But I'm trying."

I wrap my arms around her. "I'm so proud of you," I whisper into her hair.

This time it's happy tears that are falling.

Harry’s p.o.v

Another draft is wiped off. I rub a hand down my face tiredly. This would probably be a conversation better had in-person but I didn’t want to fall back into bad habits. I need the distance from the Weasleys, from everyone that has these  expectations. 

I resolve to try again. 

~~'Dear Mr. Weas~~

~~Dear Arthur~~

Arthur,

I'm sure this letter is coming as an expected surprise. ~~You've probably~~ By now you've likely heard the news that I did what you told me. ~~Please let me back Dad I'm not doing so well.~~ It's not. This past week has helped me realize a few things and I think it's better if I keep my distance for now.

Thank you for slapping some sense into me. Your actions last time we met and Evangeline made me realize a few painful truths about myself. ~~I don't know who I am dad.~~ I don't think I've ever known. I quit the Auror force and I'm connecting with Eva. ~~I promise it's not just because you told me. She's such a bright soul and I love her dad. I love her like I've never loved anyone before~~. You put the idea in my head but as soon as I saw her I knew I would do anything for her. 

I'm attending therapy. It's a muggle thing where we talk to healers about ~~our problems, how fucked up I am,~~ the things going on in our heads. She's been really helpful, helping me ~~fixing the faker I've become~~ put things into perspective I'm meeting with her twice a week and it's been hard but Evangeline deserves a father who knows who he is right?

This letter is getting long though and I still haven't said what I wanted to. I'm sorry. ~~I'm so fucking sorry sorry sorry.~~ You and Molly have been nothing but great parent figures in my life and deserve better. ~~I'm going to be better. I swear.~~ Thank you for everything you've done for me. ~~Hopefully next time you'll meet a man whose no longer just coasting through life.~~ Next time we meet I hope to be a better man.

~~Harry Potter~~

~~Your son~~

~~Love~~

Your son,

Harry

* * *

** SPOTTED: Mistress Granger and Lady Astoria Malfoy — IN PARIS **

L'Parisian Magique

A newly returnee from Australia, the young Lady Malfoy was seen in company of renowned dual Mistress, Hermione Granger. 

Both women were seen shopping around the Parisian streets even sharing a meal while surrounded in shopping bags. Sources who were near the pair said they look like old friends catching up.

Lady Malfoy has been absent from the British social scene as she worked in Australia closing a business deal for Malfoy Industries. Meanwhile Mistress Granger has recently been making waves with her return to the British isles in a truly spectacular fashion.

These two have always been on the go, globe throttling multiple times a year so it wouldn’t be a surprise to find these two powerhouses had meet each other many times even if only in passing. However none such evident has been found. Either these two were keeping their friendship a secret or Lord Draco Malfoy introduced them and the two women have hit it off.

Whatever the case these two are proof that strong, independent woman attract other strong, independent women.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point Hermione has attended two sessions with Dr. McDouglas. An introductory meeting on the 23rd and the second on the 25th (off-screen). She's seeing the doc so frequently because Hermione reached a tipping point (wanting to kill yourself for years is not good y'all) with time the sessions will decrease to a normal once per week.


End file.
